


A Double Baker's Dozen

by Sourwolf and Stilinski (Kitsune_Moonstar)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Baker Derek Hale, Coming of Age, Cupcakes, Derek-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-03-17 17:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 30,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3537473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Sourwolf%20and%20Stilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek hasn’t been having the best year what with his first girlfriend rejecting the werewolf bite and dying and his second girlfriend turning out to be a psychopath who wanted to kill his entire family. And with bad things happening in threes, Derek can’t say he’s completely surprised when his grandmother dies nine days before his seventeenth birthday. She was the only family member that ever completely understood Derek, and for the past year, she’d been the main thing that held him together. When he opens his birthday gift from her nine days later, Derek finds a cupcake cookbook and makes the decision to perfect one recipe a month until he’s mastered them all. And maybe along the way he’ll manage to pull his life back together too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is set in an alternate universe. I've taken some liberties with characters ages and events from the show to make things work for this AU.

Derek knew that bad things often came in threes, but he wasn't expecting this. He tried to control his strength as he clutched at his grandmother's hand, not wanting to crush it. Nana was human, and these days he could feel how fragile her bones were whenever he held her hand.

"Mom's going to be home soon. Just hold on a little longer. Please don't leave me."

She smiled at him. "Oh, sweetheart. I love you. It's going to be okay. Tell your mom and Peter I love them."

Her eyes fluttered shut even as her heartbeat slowed. By the time that Derek heard the front door slam and his mom running up the stairs, Misha Hale was gone. When Talia appeared in the bedroom doorway, Derek burst into tears. It didn't matter that he was sixteen years old or that he'd been trying to be more stoic lately and not give away what he was feeling all the time. All he wanted was for things to be all right again.

Three days later Derek wasn't feeling much better as he stood with his family for the graveside service. It was only the second time he'd worn his suit. The first had been barely nine months earlier at Paige's funeral. Derek wasn't any more comfortable then than he was now. He couldn't bring himself to really listen as the officiant spoke. He didn't want to hear about how Nana had been a good mother and an important part of the community. He knew all of that.

Nana had been the one to get Derek to talk again after Paige had died. She'd been the one to start putting him back together after they'd found out about Kate and her plans. To get him to believe that it really wasn't his fault that his entire family had almost been killed. His mom might be their pack's Alpha, but Nana had always been the one who really understood Derek. He didn't know what he was going to do without her. By the time they reached the Hale house, Derek was mostly numb. It was either that or fall apart completely again. He didn't join the rest of the family for the reception they were hosting but instead went up to his room and climbed under the covers.

Five days later, he wasn't feeling much better. However, it was both Christmas and his birthday, so Derek didn't feel like he had any choice but to try and act like normal. The mood was a little more somber than the holiday normally was, but most of the family seemed determined to be in good spirits. Derek did his best to play along. It had always been awkward to have his birthday be on Christmas, but it was especially hard this year to get through the birthday festivities so they could move on to the Christmas ones.

Still, Derek managed to get through the traditional birthday breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and had accepted his presents with enough enthusiasm to satisfy the givers. He froze when he spotted the tag on the gift in his hands, written in his grandmother's dainty cursive. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he carefully peeled the paper off of the gift. It was a book. A cookbook to be precise with recipes for cupcakes. Derek had never heard of the café that put it out, but he found a note from Nana inside the front cover.

_Derek,_

_I know you hate the way Laura and Peter tease you about baking. But it is something that you love. An acquaintance of mine in England runs this bakery, and I thought of you when he started talking about his new cookbook. I know that this year has been hard for you, and I hate that you've withdrawn from so many things that used to make you happy. You deserve to be happy, Derek. So here is a cookbook for you in the hopes that you won't give up one more thing that makes you happy. Happy Birthday, and I love you._

_Nana_

He knew he was crying. Thankfully, no one gave him a hard time about it. And thankfully, that was the last present he had to unwrap, so they could move on to other things. Derek was perfectly happy to fade into the background while everyone else threw themselves into celebrating. It was good to see the rest of the pack happy. That did make him feel a little bit better. He did his best to look pleased and excited when people handed him gifts. For the most part he was pleased with his gifts. There was the book about how to get laid from Peter, but he rarely gave decent gifts in any way, shape, or form.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but Derek was all too happy disappear back up to his room once everyone had settled in for an afternoon of watching movies and playing with new toys. He carried his new things up to his room and curled up on his bed with the cookbook. Derek hesitated before opening it. Part of him wanted to wait. This would be the last gift that his grandmother ever gave him. He should savor it, make the first experience of reading it special. But at the same time, it was just a cookbook.

He finally cracked the book open after staring at it for a good five minutes. Five recipes into the book, he got up to find sticky notes to book mark pages. Derek had to admit that he was pretty impressed by Nana's connections. He didn't exactly know how his grandmother had known the author of the cookbook, but it was definitely one of the better ones he had come across. By the time he had to turn on his bedside lamp because of the fading light, Derek had bookmarked over a dozen recipes that he wanted to try. Then he got called down for Christmas dinner.

Derek did a lot of hiding in his room with the cookbook over the next few days. It was easier than trying to fake that he was as happy and enthusiastic about the holiday as everyone else. Someone would always catch him, and then they would want to make him talk about it. Derek didn't want to talk. Talking wouldn't help. It wouldn't change anything. And the only one who seemed to understand that was his dad. Even his mom who was typically pretty good at reading him had tried to make him talk more than once. His dad just put him to work in the kitchen.

By the time New Year's Eve rolled around, the house had begun to empty back to its normal levels of people. Most of their relatives, who had come for the funeral and then stayed for the holiday, had left, leaving just a few aunts, uncles, and cousins behind. And even they were getting ready to leave. Derek was happy about that. It gave him more space and made it easier to not have stay in his room in order to avoid people.

He did get to have a nice quiet evening when it came to the end of the year though. The little ones all went over to Uncle Peter's for a slumber party and movie marathon while Laura chaperoned Cora to a party one of her classmates was throwing. His mom and dad had also gone out to some party, so Derek had the house to himself. Not that he really did much with that opportunity. He mostly was just marathoning Cupcake Wars.

It struck Derek in the middle of one of the episodes that it was something that he could do. Especially since he had a new cookbook chock full of cupcake recipes. And Nana clearly wanted him to keep baking. There were twenty-six recipes in the book that he really wanted to try. Derek suddenly sat up straighter despite the fact that there was no one around to see him. That didn't matter. He didn't need a witness to his resolution to make it. In the next year, he would make and perfect all twenty-six recipes from his new cookbook. Starting tomorrow.


	2. Mocha Cupcake with a Toffee Frosting

He had decided to start at the beginning of the cookbook with the first recipe that had caught his eye. It was for a mocha cupcake which sounded interesting. At least in theory. Derek had mixed feelings about coffee, though he did like the taste combinations of coffee and chocolate. But coffee by itself had no appeal for him. If he was going to drink it, he had to add sugar and cream. It was too bitter otherwise. But mocha would work.

Derek had never actually baked using coffee before. To be honest, he'd never really made coffee before. When Derek had any kind of coffee drink, he typically bought it from a café. So his first challenge was figuring out how to make the coffee to use at the right strength. It was more of a challenge than he was expecting in all honesty.

He had started by trying to you instant coffee since they had some packets in the house for late night emergency calls when his mom needed coffee fast. It was Starbucks Via, so Derek figured it had to be decent at least. However, when he put it in his batter, the cakes turned out grainier that Derek liked. By the time school started again, Derek had come to the realization that he was going to have to brew coffee from scratch.

School was a distraction from his project, and not exactly a welcome one. There was a time when school wasn't a big deal. Derek had been popular. He had been the star of the basketball team and well liked. And then Paige had died. Everyone had known that they were dating, and that Derek was head over heels for her. That alone hadn't completely changed things, but it had changed Derek somewhat. But it wasn't until Kate that things had really changed at school.

Kate Argent had been their substitute math teacher at the beginning of the school year. Of course, Derek had meet her before school started during the last month of his summer break. By the time that school had started, Derek was well and truly infatuated, and he had been quite willing to keep their relationship a secret. Kate had him hook, line, and sinker, and Derek had been blind to the warning signs or the fact that she was being emotionally abusive.

As it turned out, Kate was a hunter. She was using Derek to get close to his family in order to kill them all despite the fact that the Hales were no threat to anyone and had harmed no humans. Her plan had been to trap everyone in the family home with mountain ash and then burn the building down.

Thankfully, it never happened. Three things saved them. One, the newly elected Sheriff Stilinski had noticed Kate's behavior towards Derek and was concerned. He had started keeping an eye on her. Two, Kate had decided that her niece, Allison, needed to be inducted into the family tradition of hunting. Allison was only sixteen, and her parents had managed to keep her out of the hunting life up until then. Kate's sudden desire to take Allison on trips had gotten the attention of her brother Chris. And three, Nana had had a bad feeling and decided to have a friend of hers come over and do a once over of the house's magical protections.

Kate had gotten caught red handed, and her brother hadn't lifted a finger to help her. When it came to light that she had also used sex to manipulate a teenager, the judge really threw the book at her. She would be locked up for at least the next twenty years. And Derek was glad of that. But it didn't stop him from feeling guilty about the whole mess. And Beacon Hills was a small town. The Hales' secret was safe and not all the details were known, but people did know what had happened. So they knew that Derek had been involved.

It had changed things. Derek was more closed off than before, and most of his friends didn't bother to try and get past that. When he didn't join the basketball team when the season started, most of them drifted away. The only people who really stuck with him were Erica and Boyd, and Derek was grateful for them. Boyd had always been a calm rock he could lean on, and Erica had a way of making people back off that Derek definitely appreciated. While they both were pack, they weren't family, and that somehow made them easier to be around right now.

Still, school wasn't really a place he wanted to be. Derek got through it, but he didn't enjoy it much. Mostly he just wanted to be back in the kitchen. He was just shutting his locker, trying to figure out where to buy coffee and what sort he was supposed to get for his cupcakes, when a sophomore came up beside him.

"Hey, Derek."

He looked over to see Stiles Stilinski, the sheriff's kid standing there with a hesitant look.

"I heard your grandmother died over the break. I won't say I'm sorry because I always hated when people said that after Mom died, but it does suck. Anyway, yeah," he shrugged slightly, his expressive eyes wide, "I just wanted to let you know that I know it sucks, and if you wanted someone to talk to who wouldn't say all the stupid shit people normally do when a family member dies, you're welcome to come talk. I'll see you around."

He was gone before Derek could really think of anything to say. He didn't really know Stiles since he was a grade ahead of him, but it was a kind offer. Even if Derek didn't want to talk to anyone. No, instead Derek headed downtown after school to buy some coffee beans.

It was cold January, and the wind never seemed to stop blowing. Beacon Hills rarely got snow, but there was frost on the ground almost every morning. It was a good month for spending time in a hot kitchen. After two weeks of work on the recipe, Derek had finally managed to get the batter just right where you could taste the coffee in it, but it didn't completely overpower the chocolate. It took him another week to get the texture of the cupcakes right. In the end, he had discovered that he had to increase the baking time from what the recipe said.

Thankfully, while not perfect, most of his batches were edible, and Derek had quickly gotten the hang of making the toffee flavored frosting that went with the mocha cupcakes. His mom had taken to stealing the finished product for various meetings she attended. Derek didn't mind. Otherwise he'd have several dozen cupcakes just sitting around the house waiting to be eaten. Besides, it made him feel useful to his Alpha, and he rarely felt that anymore. Most of the time these days he felt like a burden. He'd endangered the pack, and it had only been good luck that his naiveté hadn't destroyed it.

He was just finishing frosting his latest and best batch one Saturday afternoon when his mother wandered into the kitchen. She helped herself to one of the cupcakes he had just added a chocolate covered coffee bean to. She carefully unwrapped it and took a bite.

"You know, I think that these are some of your best yet. Though all of these cupcakes have been good. I think you've completely spoiled my book club though. They may not show up anymore unless I can provide them with cupcakes."

Derek ducked his head to hide the blush he knew was on his cheeks. His mother let out a soft sigh.

"I'm glad you're still baking. I know Mom always encouraged you in that, and I was a little afraid you'd give it up without her. But then, she always seemed to know what you needed." Talia Hale shook her head. "Even when I didn't. I know this past year has been hard on you. And I know that I haven't been there for you when you needed me with everything else going on. I'm sorry about that."

"You're the Alpha, Mom. You're responsible for taking care of all of us. Not just me," Derek protested; she shouldn't be apologizing to him, not when most of trouble she'd been dealing with was his fault.

Her hazel eyes were sad. "But I'm also you mother, and you need me just as much as the rest of the pack does. It's my job to protect you, both as your Alpha and as your mom."

He didn't know what to say to that. Derek had never blamed her. His mom was a great Alpha. Everyone said so. It wasn't her fault. Derek was the one who had fucked up.

His mom sighed again and kissed his forehead. "I love you, Derek."

Derek doesn't know what to make of any of it, so he makes another batch of cupcakes.


	3. Chocolate Orange Cupcake

February crept on Derek. Really the only reason he paid any attention to the month was the fact that Erica and Boyd got into a fight just before Valentine's Day. Derek would have been just as happy to remain oblivious to the holiday, but no, he had to listen to both of his friends bellyache about the situation. Well, it was more Erica than Boyd. Boyd tended to be the type to suffer in silence. Erica on the other hand was very vocal about the whole situation. Derek really wasn't even sure why the pair were fighting.

Of course, he also didn't have much doubt that they would ended up getting back together sooner or later. So he mostly tuned out Erica's complaints as he worked on the orange zest for the new recipe. Erica was mostly here to steal cupcakes anyway. Derek didn't really mind. At least, as long as it was just her and not Laura and Cora too. He loved his sisters, and he had considered Erica basically his sister ever since his mom had given her the bite, but all of them at once could be a bit much. Especially if they decided to team up against him which could happen. Derek knew that they all loved him, but he really didn't need them meddling in his life. Especially this close to Valentine's Day.

That was something he really wasn't looking forward to. For a couple of reasons. Last Valentine's Day, Derek still been trying to win Paige over. He'd been oblivious to just about anything else. But Derek remembered the year before that. It had been full of people giving him chocolate and awkward confessions. For all that Derek had been popular, he'd never really been comfortable with some of that attention. Especially when it meant rejecting people. He always felt so bad that he could be what they wanted him to be.

And he knew that there had been some competition to get his attention this year as well. Derek had been trying to ignore it all. He wasn't about to date anyone anytime soon. Maybe ever. It didn't seem to end well for anyone.

"Are you even listening to me, Derek?" Erica demanded.

Derek sighed. "Yes, Erica. You were repeating for the ninth time that if Boyd wanted you back he had better do something spectacular for Valentine's Day."

Erica rolled her eyes at him. "Oh don't look so put upon. You know you're going to end up with more chocolate than you can shake a stick at by the end of the day."

"No one asked me if I wanted it," Derek muttered as he scooped the batter into cupcake papers.

Erica made a face at him. Derek just ignored her, and she went back to ranting. Half an hour later, he was taking the cupcakes out of the oven, and Erica was still complaining. Sometimes he wished she realized just how lucky she was. The only thing that was keeping her and Boyd apart at the moment was themselves. And in the long run, it was just a dumb argument they were having. The pair already knew one another's secrets, their families weren't against them dating, and there wasn't anything life threatening to keep them apart. Derek didn't have that. His first girlfriend was dead, and his second had tried to kill him.

Erica helped herself to one of the unfrosted cupcakes. "Look, Derek, are you sure there's no one you're interested in? I mean, I get that you might be a little gun-shy at this point and that most of the people at school are kind of wary of you now, but if there's someone you really liked, you know Boyd and I will help. Or just set you up if you just want a date. I know some really nice people, both guys and girls."

It was Derek's turned to sigh and make a face. "No, Erica. I'm fine. I'm not ready to start dating again. I'll be fine on my own for Valentine's."

"You're sure."

He smiled at her. "I'm sure."

That just made Erica sigh, but she didn't press the issue. She did made a face a she bit into her cupcake though.

"Aren't these supposed to have an orange taste to go with the chocolate?"

Derek groaned. "Don't tell me. I need more orange."

"Yep."

Derek just sighed again. This was the third time he had changed the ratio of orange to chocolate in the cupcake. He had started with what the recipe called for, but that hadn't been orangey enough. Then he had tripled the amount of orange in the batter, and you could barely taste the chocolate in the cupcake. He'd just had no luck what so ever with this recipe so far, and it was frustrating since it should be easy. It was a simple recipe. Derek didn't know why he couldn't get it to work.

He was still at it three days later. Only this time instead of Erica hanging around the kitchen it was Boyd. It was a lot quieter that way, but it wasn't silent. Of course, Boyd required him in participate in the conversation where Erica did not.

"So basically what you're saying is that you need to come up with something in the next three days that's not completely over the top but will still charm Erica."

Boyd nodded. "Yes."  
Derek just sighed. "I don't know why you're talking to me about this then. I was never good at this sort of thing."

It was Boyd's turn to sigh. "I'm not going to ask Laura or Cora. Peter is definitely out."

"How about my dad?" Derek offered. "He's probably your best bet."

Boyd rolled his eyes at Derek. "I already talked to him. All of his ideas involved far more cooking than I can or want to do. Apparently the main way he wooed your mom was through her stomach."

All Derek could do was shrug. It was true after all.

His mom had gone up to Portland for part of her training as the next Alpha, and over the month she had stayed there, she'd been completely won over by his dad's cooking. At that time, Connor O'Brian had been just finishing off his culinary school training. And he had been rather won over by Talia herself. Two months after they had first met, Talia had let him in on the secret of werewolves and in on the fact that she was next in line to run a pack of them. His father hadn't been deterred. Six months after they had first met, Talia and Connor had married, and Connor had changed his last name to Hale. Connor had ended up taking the bite after almost getting mortally wounded in a territory dispute just before Derek was conceived. They had always been the picture of a loving couple for as long as Derek could remember complete with affectionate bickering.

Erica and Boyd's relationship wasn't really like that though, and Boyd was right in that food might not be the best bet. But it could be on the right track.

"What about doing something that appeals to her sweet tooth?" Derek offered.

That made Boyd snort. "Yeah, and Erica would kill be for just getting her a box of chocolate or candy. She'd say I hadn't put any thought into it."

"Then customize to make them unique for her," Derek suggested. "That can't be too hard."

He pulled a cupcake tray out of the oven and carefully set it down on top of a cooling rack. The cupcakes looked good, but the big question was how would they taste. Boyd looked thoughtful.

"That might just work."

Derek nodded. "Good. Now, I need you to tell me which taste is stronger, chocolate or orange?"

He didn't really think much about the advice he'd given Boyd. At least until the day before Valentine's when Boyd showed up on his doorstep.

"I need you to make me a dozen of those chocolate orange cupcakes you were working on for tomorrow."

Derek blinked at him. "What?"

"I need you to make me cupcakes for Erica for tomorrow. I found a bunch of those Grand Marnier truffles that she likes so much to go on top of them."

Derek just sighed. "Come in then. You'll have to keep me company while I work."

He led the way to the kitchen, mentally trying to figure out if he needed to send Boyd off to buy any ingredients. He was pretty sure that he had everything he needed though.

"Just so you know, you owe me for this," he told his friend as he pulled out a mixing bowl.

But the next day at lunch, Boyd presented Erica with a box with a dozen perfectly frosted chocolate orange cupcakes topped with Grand Marnier truffles. Erica had taken one look at the cupcakes, let out a delighted sequel, and promptly kissed Boyd in the middle of the cafeteria amidst a myriad of cheers and applause. Derek couldn't help smiling. He would say that spending most of the evening last night making cupcakes was worth it when it made his friends that happy.


	4. Earl Grey Tea Cupcake

Shortly after Valentine's Day, the weather turned nasty. Late winter weather in this part of California wasn't typically more than cold and rain. However, a series of storms had rolled in bringing with them strong winds and sleet. There had been no snow so far, but Derek wouldn't be surprised if they got a little. According to the weather forecasts, the bad weather would be lingering for quite a while.

Not that Derek minded all that much. It gave him more of an excuse to hole up in a warm kitchen with his baking. Really, the only person who might be inconvenienced by him taking over the kitchen much of the time was his father, and he didn't seem to be minding all that much. In fact, he seemed all too willing to let Derek use the kitchen to his heart's content. So Derek continued on with his project, taking his newest recipe: Earl Grey tea cupcakes.

It was one of those flavors that made people do a second take when they heard it, but Derek thought it sounded good. Then again he was particular to Earl Grey tea himself, so that was one of the reasons he had picked that particular recipe. And it had seemed easy enough to start with, but Derek was struggling to get the balance of flavors right in the cupcake. His first batch had turned out to be more than a little week. As in he could hardly taste the tea in the cake.

So for his second batch, he was steeping the tea a lot longer. It was much stronger than he would make it to drink, but maybe that would get enough of the flavor into the batter. While the tea brewed, Derek started sifting the dry ingredients together even as the oven preheated. And then the back door banged open, and he heard the sound of multiple feet in the mud room and his dad saying, "Just bring them on through here."

Derek looked up just in time to see his dad walk into the kitchen with his arms full of grocery bags. He was followed by Stiles who was also laden with grocery bags. They both looked soaked to the skin.

"Set the bags down on the counter," Connor instructed. "I'll get you a towel."

Stiles just nodded, fidgeting slightly. Almost as if out of habit, the teen started unloading the grocery bags, stowing several gallons of milk in the fridge.

"Where do these go?" Stiles asked, holding a box of crackers.

"Second cupboard to your left on the third shelf," Derek told him. "How did Dad sucker you into carrying bags for him?"

Stiles just shrugged as he put away the crackers. "Scott was supposed to pick me up at the store, but it looks like he forgot. I had just started to walk home when your dad offered me a ride. He wanted to drop off the stuff that might melt here first."

Derek just nodded and got back to work on his cupcakes. Stiles continued to put away groceries, occasionally asking Derek where things went. A few moments later, Connor returned wearing dry clothes and carrying a towel. He smiled when he saw Stiles putting away the groceries.

"Thanks, Stiles. Why don't you dry off? If you want, I'm sure Derek can find you some sweats to wear, and we can throw your clothes in the dryer."

Derek frowned slightly. "Just give me a minute."

He carefully set aside the bowl of dry ingredients, glad he hadn't started with the wet ones yet. It only too Derek a few minutes to run up to his bedroom and find a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt for Stiles to wear. He handed them over to Stiles.

"Bathroom's down the hall to the left," he told the younger teen.

"Thanks."

By the time that Stiles returned dressed in Derek's clothes, Derek had gotten the batter put together and was scooping it into cupcake liners. Connor looked up from where he was putting away the last of the groceries.

"Here. I'll go put those in the dryer, Stiles. Is your dad expecting you to be home soon?"

Stiles shook his head. "No. He has a double shift today. He won't be home until about one in the morning."

"Why don't you stay for dinner then. I'll drive you home afterwards."

"I don't want to impose."

"You aren't. I'm already cooking enough food for an army. One more won't make a difference."

And with that Derek was alone in the kitchen with Stiles again. There were a few moments of silence before Stiles started talking.

"What are you making?"

"Cupcakes."

Stiles' eyes went wide. "What kind?"

"Earl Grey."

"Interesting. Do you bake a lot? I thought I heard Boyd mention you'd made the cupcakes he gave Erica. I wish I could bake. I'm okay when it comes to basic cooking, but the only thing that I seem to be able to bake without screwing up is chocolate chip cookies. Of course I made those enough times with my mom that I already had the recipe memorized by the time that I was starting to try it on my own."

Stiles was distracting. He never seemed to shut up and didn't seem to care if Derek answered his questions or not. He rambled from one topic to another without break, and he smelled like an odd combination of Derek, spices, and old books. Derek didn't really no what do to with any of it, so he kept quiet and kept an eye on his cupcakes. His dad returned presently to start work on dinner, and he and Stiles started up a conversation about healthy recipes while Derek got to work on frosting. Still, Stiles was back peering over Derek's shoulder when he pulled the cupcakes out of the oven.

"Those look good. Are you going to frost them now?"

Derek shook his head. "No. They need to cool first or the frosting will melt."

"Derek, will you get your sister and start setting the table?"

"I'll help," Stiles offered.

Dinner was an interesting affair. It was a little more subdued than normal if only because Stiles wasn't in on the werewolf secret, but besides that it was interesting. Cora and Stiles knew one another from school, and Derek's mom and Stiles got into an involved conversation about the sheriff's department's annual fundraiser. It wasn't the first time that they'd had a stranger for dinner, but Stiles actually felt like he belonged there, that he was pack, and that confused Derek. He disappeared almost immediately back into the kitchen after dinner to frost the cupcakes.

Once they were ready he brought them out on a plate for everyone to try. Cora didn't seemed to like the flavor much, but when Stiles bit into one his eyes fluttered shut.

"Dude, this is amazing. I mean, Earl Grey isn't my favorite tea, though it's not bad, but I would eat these any day."

"Thanks." Derek bit into his own cupcake.

Stiles was right that they were quite good. He had finally gotten the flavor balance right, and the cupcakes were pretty much perfect.

When his dad finally took Stiles home that evening, Stiles took with him a Tupperware full of leftovers and half of the remaining cupcakes.


	5. Cinnamon Sugar Puff Cupcake

The next recipe that Derek tackled has a tricky bit of baking to it to make it puff up. It has to be done just right to get the cupcakes to turn out, and Derek keeps failing at it. The end result isn't bad, but it wasn't what the cupcake is supposed to be like. It's frustrating, and Derek is close to tearing his hair out over it. He was in a bad mood when he got to the grocery store to pick up more supplies. He'd run out of both vanilla and cinnamon.

Derek didn't think anything of it when he spotted Isaac Lahey in the baking aisle. He knew the teen from school. Isaac was in Cora and Stiles' grade and on the lacrosse team with Boyd. He was sort of quiet and timid most of the time, and Derek didn't really know him well. He nodded at the kid and continued searching the spices for the brand of ground cinnamon he wanted.

His mood got decidedly worse though when a man with a resemblance to Isaac approached the teen and started yelling at him. Isaac just stood there, head bowed and looking uncomfortable, while he took a tongue lashing for picking out the wrong brand of peanut butter. But when the man, Isaac's father Derek guessed, backhanded the other teen, Derek had had enough.

Derek stalked over to the two of them just in time to intercept the second blow.

"Leave him alone," Derek growled.

Isaac's father sneered at him. "Mind your own business, boy."

Derek's eyes narrowed. "If you think that I am going to just stand here and watch you hit Isaac, you are sorely mistaken."

"Don't-" Isaac started just in time to be interrupted by his father punching Derek in the jaw.

The blow didn't even stun Derek. One of the advantages of being of werewolf. Another was his strength. Derek punched the man in the gut hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Then he grabbed Isaac by the arm and hurried them both to the customer service desk. The store had video cameras, and Derek was pressing charges even if Isaac didn't.

The whole thing turned into a far larger mess than Derek had expected. Four hours later, Derek was still at the store. Along with store management, the sheriff, his mom, child protective services, and Isaac. He was very glad that the whole altercation had been caught on camera even if it had taken some quick talking to convince everyone that the punch Derek had taken had mostly glanced off of his face.

It had quickly become clear that Isaac had been abused for a considerable amount of time. He hadn't been willing talk much at first, but the combination of Sheriff Stilinski and Talia Hale had finally reached him. Derek had watched as the other teen had completely fallen apart and a whole flood of information had poured out. Most of it had made Derek nearly incandescent with rage. No one should have to deal with being locked in a freezer as a punishment. Mr. Lahey would be going to jail for a very long time thankfully.

And it also looked like the Hale pack would be getting a new member if Derek was reading his mom right. Isaac would actually be coming home with them for now. Child protective services was talking about finding him a foster situation, but until then, Talia had offered to take Isaac in, and Derek doubted anyone would protest that. He was a little more concerned about how much trouble he was going to be in for getting into a fight, even if it was for a very good cause.

When the three of them arrived back at the Hale house, Derek quickly disappeared into the kitchen. He would let his parents deal with Isaac and getting him settled. Derek wasn't very good with people most of the time, and he didn't know how to comfort Isaac. Hopefully his parents could help. Instead, he worked on cupcakes. And when he finally got the recipe right, Derek took them up to the guest room that Isaac had settled in. The other teen looked up from where he sat on the bed, looking more than a little lost, when Derek rapped on the doorframe, and when he was presented with two cupcakes on the plate, Derek was treated to a brilliant if a little disbelieving smile from the teen.


	6. Saffron Cupcake

Derek loved his sisters. He really did. However, that did not mean they didn't drive him up the wall most of the time. Laura especially seemed to take great pleasure in giving him a hard time. He was sort of relieved that she was away at college now, though he did miss her. He and Cora might be slightly closer in age, but he and Laura had always been close. They still kept in touch while she was NYU though, skyping almost weekly, and Derek was glad to see her home on one of her breaks.

Of course, their schedules didn't quite sync up, so he and Cora still had school while Laura was off for the week, but they still made time for hanging out with one another though. However, Laura had taken Cora out shopping for a dress for junior prom. One of the guys in Derek's grade had asked her, and while Cora hadn't been interested in anything serious, she had wanted to go the dance. Of course, that left Derek to be able to bake in peace.

His latest recipe was an easy one. Derek had just wanted something simple to focus on after the headache of the last recipe. The upside to that one had been that Isaac had a liked the cinnamon sugar puff cupcakes quite a bit. The teen had accepted the bite from Talia and had settled into the pack quite well. CPS had finally arranged for a local foster situation with Melissa McCall, a nurse from the hospital who had a son of her own in Isaac's grade. Isaac seemed pretty happy with the McCalls even if he spent about half of his free time over at the Hale house. Derek liked the young man and tried to keep an eye out for him.

Shaking his head to clear it of distraction, Derek turned his attention back to the saffron butter he was making for the recipe. The front door slammed, and laughter filled the house. Derek sighed. There went his peace and quiet. Still, he was in the middle of baking, and he wasn't going to stop now even if he did end up with an audience.

True to form, Laura wandered in to the kitchen was Derek was still mixing ingredients and snagged a stool to perch on. She watched and waited until Derek had started scooping the batter into the cupcake liners before speaking.

"So, you're still baking," her mouth twitched. "Nana would be pleased. She always gave me such a scolding when I teased you about being the perfect housewife."

Derek said nothing. Laura sighed.

"So, I'm thinking about changing my major."

That surprised Derek. Laura had been set on being a lawyer since she was ten.

"To what?"

Laura just sighed again. "I'm not entirely sure. I know that I want to do something where I can help people. You know I've been trading letters with that soldier since the beginning of the term? Sometimes when he writes, I just want to be able to do something to lift the darkness he's feeling."

"So, psychology maybe? You could become a therapist." Derek shrugged slightly. "It might actually be helpful to have a therapist who is in on the supernatural in a community. Some things you just can't talk about without revealing our secret."

Laura nodded as Derek put the cupcakes in the over. She toyed with an empty cupcake liner.

"So," she bit her lip. "I really like Jordan. I mean, I know we've never met in person, but we've been trading letters for over six months now, and it's like we really clicked. He's, um, he's coming back to the States next month, and he wants to meet up."

"So?"

Laura huffed. "So? Should I meet up with him or not?"

That made Derek snort. "Why are you asking me? It's not like you listen to other people's opinions. You always do what you want. So do you want to meet him or not?"

She made a face. "I do. I guess I'm just scared. What if he doesn't like me when he meets me in person?"

Derek shrugged. "Then he's a jackass, and you're well rid of him."

Laura groaned. Derek's timer went off, and he went to pull the cupcakes out of the oven. They looked a perfect golden brown, and they smelled wonderful too. He set them aside to cool and began work on the frosting. Laura lapsed into silence again. Derek carefully filled a pastry bag and began frosting the cupcakes. Once he was done, Derek handed his sister a cupcake with a smile.

"Look, Laura, you are one of the strongest people I know. You can pretty much do whatever you put your mind to. So make up your mind and go for it."

Laura arched an eyebrow at him. "If that's your idea of a pep talk, baby bro, then you to work on it some."

But she ate the cupcake with a smile on her face and ruffled his hair with a smile before leaving the kitchen.


	7. Double Chocolate Chip Cupcake with French Vanilla Buttercream

Contrary to popular belief, Derek didn't hate Allison Argent. He was well aware that she wasn't her aunt, and she didn't have anything to do with what Kate had tried to do to him and his family. That didn't mean he liked her though. Quite honestly, he didn't trust any of the Argents, and he didn't want anything to do with any of them. He and Allison didn't have any classes together since they weren't in the same grade, and he did his best to avoid her, even going as far as to leave a room if she was present.

Of course, he knew that school gossip said otherwise which was probably why Scott McCall, Allison's boyfriend, was always glaring at Derek, but Derek had long ago given up trying to correct the gossip. No one ever seemed to care if it was true or not. And it really didn't matter all that much to Derek any more.

Still, while Derek didn't like Allison Argent, he wasn't about to stand by let some creep harass her or any other girl from his school. Derek vaguely recognized the teen with the camera as someone who went to their school, but he didn't know their name. He didn't really care either as he stalked over to the two.

"Hey! Allison wants you to leave her alone. So leave." When the other teen hesitated, Derek growled. "Now."

He waited until the teen was well out of sight before he turned to Allison. She was shaking he realized. She looked up at Derek with wide dark eyes.

"What am I going to do? He knows where I live. He deliberately let me know that. Mom and Dad aren't going to be back until tonight, and Lydia is out of town all weekend. I can't call Scott. Not when he's already canceled on Stiles three times because of me."

She looked like she was about to burst into tears. Derek did not do well with crying women, and he was pretty sure that all of this was genuine. And there was nobody at home. His mom had taken Cora to the city for a girl's day out, and his dad was up in Portland helping out a friend get his restaurant off the ground.

"You can come home with me."

Allison stared at him for a moment, but then she nodded. Derek quickly bought the items he'd been at the store to get, and then he led the way out to his car. It wasn't pretty like Laura's Camaro, but it was reliable, and the little Honda got him where he needed to go. Allison was mostly quiet on the drive back to the house. He led her inside and then headed straight for the kitchen. This was already awkward, and he might as well be in the place in the house that he was most comfortable. Derek pulled out his cookbook and started to assemble ingredients for the cupcakes.

For a few minutes, Allison just stood there, looking a little lost. Then she grabbed a stool and sat down. Derek pulled out a mixing bowl.

"How long has he been harassing you?"

Allison startled. "You mean Matt?"

Derek nodded. "It sounded like he'd done that sort of thing to you before."

Allison bit her lip. "I'm not sure when it started. I only noticed it a couple of weeks ago. At first it was just little things like how he was always hanging out near my locker or near the bleachers when I was watching Scott's practices. Then I realized that I was always seeing him around when I was out of school too. I think he's taking pictures of me. He likes to corner me and talk. He's never quite come out and said that he thinks I should break up with Scott and date him instead, but he insinuates it a lot. I've been trying to ignore him, but it's starting to freak me out."

Derek didn't exactly blame her. "Have you told anyone about this?"

Allison shook her head. "No. Scott would totally overreact, and I don't want to cause any trouble for my parents. Things have been tense lately with Kate and everything that went down. Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine," Derek cut her off. "But I think you're wrong. If you parents are anything like mine, they'd probably rather know that someone is giving you a hard time. Or you could talk to Sheriff Stilinski. He's really nice about this sort of thing, and he'll take you seriously."

Allison watched with avid curiosity as he mixes up the batter and starts scooping it into the cupcake liners. He'd grabbed liners at random and ended up with the rubber ducky ones that Laura had bought him as a joke. Once the trays were full, he popped them in the oven and started on the frosting. Allison hopped off of her stool.

"Here. I can wash the dishes you're done with. What kind of cupcakes are you making?"

"Double chocolate."

The two of them worked in a comfortable silence. When the cupcakes were out of the oven and cool, Derek frosted them with the French vanilla buttercream he'd made then topped them off by with slivers of chocolate he grated with the cheese grater. He handed one of them to Allison.

"Try it."

Allison took a bite, and a brilliant smile with dimples broke out on her face.

"Oh my god, Derek. This is amazing. I had no idea you could bake like this."

Derek just shrugged. "Thanks."

He had mostly just figured that chocolate would make her feel better, and if she felt better she wasn't likely to start crying. He really wasn't good with crying women. When she polished off the first cupcake, Derek handed her a second one. Allison offered him a shy smile.

"Thanks, Derek. I really appreciate this. You didn't have to do any of it."

Derek shrugged again. "I wasn't going to let him harass you. I'd do the same for any of the girls at school."

"Which makes you a really good person. You had every reason to just ignore the whole thing."

Derek shook his head. "No. You're not Kate. I know that. I'm not going to blame you for something you didn't do. You didn't even know werewolves existed at that time as far as I know. I blame myself more than I blame you. And while I'm not comfortable around anyone in your family, I'm not going to let someone hurt you if I can help it. I'm not a monster."

"No," Allison said slowly, "you're not. You're a really nice guy. I sort of wish I'd taken the time to get to know you before now."


	8. French Toast Cupcake with Maple Buttercream

Derek loves his part time job. It might mostly consist of shelving books at the public library, but he still enjoyed it. He loved the fact that he got to hanging out at the library all the time, and that he got to be there when it was closed to the rest of the public. He loved that he got to be one of the first people to see the new books and sometimes got to take them home before anyone else. It was also one of the few places that wasn't tainted by Kate for him. That made it a sanctuary of sorts, almost as much as the kitchen was.

He was in the middle of sorting a cart of returns before he shelved them when one of the library techs bemoaned the fact that they didn't have any decent desserts for the library lockin program they were doing for a bunch of middle school students. Before he really thought about it, Derek had offered to provide cupcakes. He had gotten relieved thanks from both the tech and the children's librarian, and then Derek realized that he was going to have to make three dozen cupcakes for next Friday night.

Making that many cupcakes wasn't a problem. He'd made more in one sitting before. It was more the fact that he'd promised them cupcakes in a flavor that he was just learning to make. Still, he had promised French toast cupcakes, and so he was going to make them. Even if it meant that he spent every night that week working on the recipe, so be it.

In reality, it didn't take him that much time to master it. The trickiest part was getting the batter just right so there were veins of cinnamon inside. Of course, it did sort of mean going through all of the cinnamon they had in the house. Which meant Derek was off to the store once again. At this rate, all the cashiers were going to know who he was before the year was over.

It was all worth it though. Derek arrived at the library with the three dozen cupcakes carefully packed in Tupperware Friday afternoon. He was a little surprised when he knocked on the back door and Stiles answered. The other teen's eyes lit up.

"Derek! Peggy said someone bringing cupcakes, but she didn't say who. This is going to be awesome. If they're anything like you're other cupcakes, they're going to be great."

Derek just blinked. "You work here too?"

Stiles just shook his head. "No, I just volunteer. Peggy says I should apply if they have any page openings this year, but until then, I like to help out with her programs. I loved spending the night at the library when I was younger, so when she asked if I'd help out, I'd say yes."

Stiles seemed to realize then that he was just standing in the doorway blocking Derek's way while Derek was carrying the cupcakes.

"Oh. Come on in. We're setting up in the teen area."

Stiles babbled the whole way, chattering about what they had planned for the evening. He helped Derek unpack the cupcakes and set them up on a little display on one of the tables.

"These look awesome, dude. What kind are they?"

Derek shrugged. "French toast cupcakes with maple buttercream. You can try one if you like. I made extra just in case."

"Really?" Stiles grinned. "Thanks."

He snatched up one of the cupcakes and bit into it. Derek wasn't sure he'd ever seen a cupcake disappear quite that fast, but before he knew it Stiles was licking the last of the frosting off of his long fingers.

"I think that was even better than the other cupcake you made."

Stiles smiled, and Derek felt something odd swoop in his stomach. Peggy, the children's librarian, chose that minute to join the two of them.

"Are these the cupcakes you made for us, Derek? They look wonderful."

Stiles smirked. "They taste even better."

"I can't thank you enough for doing this for us, Derek."

He just shrugged, feeling a little bit embarrassed. It really wasn't that big a deal. He started collecting the Tupperware. Peggy was still smiling at him.

"Really, this is so much better than relying on store bought cookies."

Derek shrugged again. "You're welcome. I need to get going. Dad wants me to pick up some stuff for dinner."

Peggy nodded. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon for your shift."

Derek waved goodbye and headed home.


	9. Lemon Angel Cake

It's well and truly spring, edging into summer, and Derek's family was driving him crazy. Well, to be fair, it was mostly just his Uncle Peter who was driving Derek crazy. There had been a time when Peter had been close to being Derek's best friend. He had always been a little pushy, but now it was all the time. He always seemed to have an opinion on what Derek should be doing, and he was quite comfortable talking about that opinion any time he saw the opportunity.

Peter wasn't at all happy that Derek had quit the basketball team, and he kept pressing him to join one of the other sports teams at school. Derek did like baseball, but he wasn't ready to go back to sports yet. And he was uneasy with the way that Peter kept trying to talk him into things. He always sounded so reasonable, but then again, he had sounded reasonable when he talked Derek into having Paige get the bite. Admittedly, Derek had thought that they were just going to talk to her about getting the bite rather than having her get the bite then and there, but still, Peter had talked him into the idea, and it had backfired spectacularly.

Derek didn't trust his judgment anymore when it came to Peter's ideas, and he also couldn't help but notice the way that Peter watched him anymore, like Derek wasn't something to be trusted any longer. He'd been like that since the fire. And Derek could understand that, at least a little bit. It was true that Derek had almost gotten them all killed. He still felt guilty about that a lot of the time. It was strange to have Peter watch him like he was dangerous.

So when Peter wouldn't stop harassing him back getting back on the sports teams, Derek escaped the house for a while. The big problem wasn't entirely Peter. It was also how nobody seemed to have a problem with Peter harassing him about this sort of thing. Derek knew that his parents and Laura thought that he needed get out more and get involved with people and things at school. But he couldn't. Not yet at least. Maybe next year.

The biggest problem was that he didn't, couldn't trust people anymore. Pack was fine. He had no trouble with Boyd, Erica, and Isaac, or his family. Adults he had known for years weren't exempt for the most part. After Kate, Derek couldn't bring himself to trust people. He spent most of his time around people who weren't pack on guard and hyper vigilant. It was exhausting and it drained Derek. He had never really been that good at dealing with people in the first place, and when he spent all his time trying to figure out if they had ulterior motives, he was even worse at it.

Somehow while he was stuck in his head, Derek had wandered into Beacon Hills Cemetery. Derek sighed and headed for Nana's marker. It wouldn't hurt to say hi. If she had still been here, Nana would have made Peter back off. She always seemed to be able to understand what he was feeling even when he couldn't articulate it well. He'd tried to explain to his parents why he didn't want to get involved with a bunch school activities anymore, but he hadn't been able to make them understand.

As Derek made his way through the plots, he spotted a familiar figure sitting cross legged in front of one of the other headstones. It was easy enough for him to pick up the sound of muffled sobs, and without even thinking about it, Derek changed directions to walk over to Stiles. The other teen didn't even notice when Derek stood right next to him. Derek carefully crouched down and cleared his throat.

"Stiles?" He didn't ask if Stiles was okay. It was clear that he wasn't, and he wasn't going to insult the other teen by asking stupid questions.

Stiles looked up with wide eyes and tried to scrub away his tears. It didn't quite work. Derek just waited for him to speak.

"It's the anniversary. Dad's working a double, and Scott is off with Allison. It's the first time he's ever forgotten. I just don't want to hang around an empty house by myself." He sniffed a little, "It still sucks, but it sucks a little less."

Derek held out a hand and pulled Stiles to his feet. "Come on. How do you feel about Star Wars?"

Stiles blinked at him. "It's awesome?"

Derek nodded. "Okay. How about we go back to your place? I'll make cupcakes, and we can have a movie marathon."

The Stilinski kitchen wasn't what Derek was used to, but it had everything he needed, and it was easy enough to make himself at home. It didn't take him long to put together the batter for the lemon angel food cupcakes that he was currently working on. Stiles actually had fresh lemons in his fridge, and that had been the one ingredient that Derek had been worried about. Once the cupcakes were in the oven and a timer was set, Derek and Stiles settled in front of the TV and started _A New Hope_.

Derek had to take a break about thirty minutes in to pull the cupcakes from the oven, but one of the nice things about angel food cake was it needed to completely cool before you really did anything with it. So once he pulled them out, Derek set them aside to cool and went back to the movie. When they took a break to switch to _The Empire Strikes Back_ , Derek popped back into the kitchen to see if the cupcakes were cool enough for him to frost yet. They weren't, so he went back to their movies.

It was nice watching Star Wars with a fellow fan. His sisters didn't really care about the series, and Peter was sick of it after the first five times. Only Derek's dad shared his love of sci-fi really, and he was more of a Star Trek fan. Derek liked Star Trek just fine, but he preferred Star Wars. By the end of the second movie, the cupcakes were cool enough for Derek to ice them. Stiles wandered into the kitchen and perched on the counter to watch Derek whipped up a simple lemon icing to drizzle over the cupcakes.

"Do you have any milk?" he asked as he poured the icing over the cupcakes. "We'll probably want something to drink with these."

Stiles fetched the two of them glasses of milk and then they settled back on the couch with their cupcakes for _Return of the Jedi_. About half through the film, Derek realized that Stiles was using him as a pillow. Not that Derek minded much. They were almost done with the movie when the sheriff came home. Derek tensed slightly, but the man just glanced over at them and shook his head with a fond smile. When the movie finally ended, Stiles got up and stretched. Derek also got to his feet.

"I should probably head home."

Stiles sighed and followed him to the door. Derek was halfway down the porch stairs when Stiles called his name, making Derek turn around.

"Hey Derek? Thanks for today."

Derek just smiled at him and waved goodbye. "Not a problem."

 


	10. Raspberry Swirl Cupcake

There were four more weeks of school left, and it couldn't be over soon enough for Derek. He was so sick of it all, and Mr. Harris was being a dick again. Derek had never liked the chemistry teacher, but this year he seemed to have really taken his hostility towards his students to a new level. And the worst part was Derek actually liked chemistry. He found the subject fun and interest. His teacher just made the class miserable.

Derek did his best to keep his head down and his mouth shut in class. It was really the only way to survive Harris. There were very few students that he would actually leave alone if they irked him in some way or another. Derek was just waiting for the day that Harris chose the wrong student to pick on and ended up being reamed out by a furious parent. It hadn't happened yet, but Derek lived in hope. At least next year he was taking physics, and that class had a different teacher.

The bell rang, and they were finally free for the weekend. Derek was definitely ready to be out of there. He had work after school today, so he headed straight for the library. He was more than happy to be able to put his headphones on and spend the next few hours shelving books. He could definitely feel summer in the air now. That was both good and bad. This would be the summer before his senior year, and his parents were pushing him to look at colleges. It wasn't that Derek didn't want to go to college, he was looking forward to it actually, it was just that he didn't know what he wanted to study or where he might really want to go.

He didn't really want to stick around in Beacon Hills, though he could always go to the college here. The biggest problem was that when Derek thought about his future, there was no particular profession that immediately sprang to mind or that he saw himself doing. The subjects that he liked best in school were English and history, but he couldn't really see himself teaching. He didn't really know where that left him.

By the time that Derek got home that evening, he was exhausted. And while there might only be a few more weeks of school left, his teachers were still giving him homework to get done. Derek liked to get that out of the way as soon as possible. He wasn't expecting to find both Cora and Erica at the kitchen table doing their own homework. Cora looked up from her schoolwork with a grin.

"Make cupcakes for us? Please?"

Erica smirked. "Come on, Derek."

He sighed and set his backpack. "All right. Give me a minute."

Friday nights were scrounge. Everyone was responsible for their own dinner. And it sounded like Erica and Cora had decided on cupcakes for dinner. After washing his hands, Derek set to work making up the batter. The latest recipe he was trying was a vanilla and raspberry cupcake with the two batters swirled together. He was still struggling to get the proportions of vanilla batter and raspberry batter correct for flavor and the look of the cupcakes, but they did taste good. They did take a little bit longer to make since he had to do two batters instead of just one.

He let the background noise of Erica and Cora discussing the Earth science project they were working on sooth him along with the actual act of baking. Once the batter was in the oven cooking, Derek settled at the table too, pulling out his trig homework. The three of them worked companionably until Derek's timer went off and he got up to pull the cupcakes out of the oven to check them. The centers weren't quite done yet, so he popped them back in for a few more minutes.

"So, Scott McCall got his ass handed to him today for calling you a complete jackass by both his best friend and his girlfriend. Stiles typically defends you when Scott gets on his high horse, but I've never seen Allison do that before," Erica commented with a sly smirk. "So what gives?"

Derek shrugged. He hadn't mentioned anything about the afternoon with Allison except to his parents. "Who knows? What did I do to piss Scott off this time?"

Cora snorted. "Who knows? He's hated you ever since you refused to tell Allison where the library was her first week at school. If I remember correctly, you told her no and practically ran out of the room. Then you had a panic attack in the locker room and Nana had to come and pick you up. Not exactly your finest moment."

He just sighed. "Give me a break. It was only a month after Kate, and no one told me there was going to be an Argent at school."

Erica just shook her head. "What I don't get is why he hasn't gotten over it yet? I mean it's clear that Allison doesn't care."

"He certainly can hold a grudge," Cora said.

Derek busied himself with pulling the cupcakes out of the oven again to avoid the conversation. He had no idea why Scott continued to hold his grudge. He seemed nice enough other than that, and he was completely besotted with Allison. And it wasn't like Derek could explain the whole story behind why Allison made him uncomfortable. With the cupcakes out of the oven, Derek turned his attention to the frostings; like with the batter, he needed to make two.

Icing a cupcake with two pastry bags at once was a little tricky, but Derek managed it without screwing up too much. He set the plate of cupcakes down on the table when he was done and got back to his homework.


	11. Blueberry Cupcake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Summer vacation meant a number of things for Derek. He spent more hours working at the library for one. It also meant the annual trip to the blueberry u-pick for the Hales. Everyone in the family was recruited even Uncle Peter. Armed with gallon buckets, they were picking berries that were supposed to last them until next year, and since blueberries were a Hale family favorite, they needed a lot of them

Derek didn't even care if he looked a little bit ridiculous in his overalls and his straw hat. Like everyone else in the family, he had his own preferred method for picking berries. He chosen the far corner of the field and started methodically working the bushing from top to bottom, dropping handfuls into his bucket. It was slow, but very year Derek tended to be the one with the most blueberries at the end of the day.

He had already filled up one if his buckets and was about a third of the way through the next when he heard a sound behind him. It went kerplink kerplank kerplunk. There was a pause, and then he heard it again. Kerplink. Kerplank. Kerplunk. Derek turned around. There on the other side of the row was Stiles, dropping blueberries one at a time into an old tin pail. He looked to to see Derek and grinned at him.

"Hey you! Stocking up on blueberries?" He caught sight of Derek's three gallon buckets. "Leave some for the rest of us!"

Derek just laughed. "We have to get enough to last the entire family for a year. And we all love blueberries. Plus I have a recipe for blueberry cupcakes I want to try, and if I pick enough of these, I won't get into a fight with my sisters over taking more than my fair share."

Stiles' eyes went wide. "Hold on, you can make blueberry cupcakes?"

Derek just shrugged. "Well, I have a recipe. I haven't tried it yet."

A sly look came across Stiles face. "If I help you with picking blueberries, can I have some of the blueberry cupcakes?"

He considered it. "We get all three of these filled up, sure."

"Great!"

For all of Stiles' spastic energy, he was a surprisingly diligent worker. Of course, that might be the promise of cupcakes. His technique was different from Derek's, but it got the job done. Stiles tended to focus on large clusters of berries, picking them clean and moving to the next one he spotted. While he bounced up and down the row, Derek made steady progress picking anything he missed.

By the time Derek's dad came looking for him, the two of them had filled Derek's three buckets to the brim and were just finishing off Stiles' pail. Connor Hale raised an eyebrow.

"Are you boys trying to win a prize or something?"

"Derek promised me blueberry cupcakes," Stiles told him.

Connor laughed. "That would do it. Cora and Laura are still working, though Peter's done. If you two want to take those to bed weighed, you can."

The two of them lugged the buckets to the weighing station where Derek found his Mom waiting with another five buckets of blueberries. Stiles' eyes got wider.

"You guys really do like your blueberries."

Derek just grinned. His mom smiled at the two of them.

"Cora and Laura should have another four buckets between the two of them," she told Stiles with a sigh. "Of course, they're not done filling them yet."

Stiles wrinkled his nose. "I've got my jeep. I could take some of you home if you'd like."

Talia smiled at him. "Thank you, Stiles. Some of us may take you up on that."

Which was how Derek ended up riding home in the jeep with Stiles and some of the blueberries. He had only been allowed to take one of the gallon buckets home with him and only because he was going to get started right away on the cupcakes. Apparently, his mother didn't trust him not to eat all of the blueberries himself. Once they arrived, Stiles followed him into the kitchen.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"You can wash a couple of cups of blueberries for me. I'm going to get started on the dry ingredients."

Derek wasn't used to having a helper in the kitchen, but it was rather nice. He could have Stiles keep an eye on things or run grab things that he needed. The chatter took a little more getting used to, but after a while Stiles' constant commentary on everything was rather soothing. Getting the blueberry reduction right was trickier than Derek had expected. He nearly burned it a couple of times, but in the end it came out beautifully. Of course, he did have to keep Stiles' fingers out of it.

Still, the cupcakes were in the oven by the time everyone else got home. Derek started on the buttercream while Cora and Stiles debated who the worst teachers they might get next year were. His dad was already working on cleaning and packing away the blueberries to go in the freezer in the garage.

He wasn't sure what it was, but the cupcakes turned out perfect on the first try. Derek pulled them out of oven and found they were perfectly done and nice and springy when he touched the tops. He set them aside to cool while he finished off the buttercream. It seemed like the kitchen had filled up with the family in the meantime. Then again, maybe that wasn't so surprising since he was making blueberry cupcakes after all. Everyone was going to want one.

It didn't take him long to fill up his pastry bag with the brown sugar buttercream and frost the cupcakes. Once he was done he set the plate the middle of the kitchen table.

"All right. Have at them."

The cupcakes disappeared in short order. Stiles snagged two of them and offered Derek one.

"You shouldn't have to fight for one of your own cupcakes," he said before biting into his cupcake. "Okay, is it even possible for you to make a bad cupcake?"

Cora was just as appreciative. "Okay, you're making these for my birthday from now own. I think this my new favorite dessert."

His dad just clapped him on his back. "Good job, son."

Derek smiled.


	12. Pink Lemonade Cupcake

Two weeks before the fourth of July, Derek found Sheriff Stilinski on his doorstep. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. The man was in uniform, but he was also smiling, so Derek probably wasn't in trouble.

"Sheriff?"

"Derek. Just the person I was looking for."

"Oh?" Derek still wasn't sure that he wasn't in trouble.

"You're not in trouble. It's just Stiles mentioned you bake cupcakes, and the sheriff's department is having its annual Fourth of July Barbeque, and unfortunately, Mr. Monroe, who normally provides our dessert, broke is hip last week. I was hoping that you would be able to make dessert for us. We'd need enough for about two hundred people, and of course, we'll pay for your baking supplies."

Derek blinked and did some quick mental calculations. "Sure. I think I can manage that. Should I just keep the receipts and turn them in when I'm done?"

The sheriff grinned. "Yes. I'll need them by eleven on the fourth. The barbeque is at Nash Park."  
Derek nodded and took the hand that Sheriff Stilinski held out to shake. "All right. I'll see you then."

He then went back into the kitchen and stared at the oven. He had just agreed to make enough cupcakes for two hundred people. Figuring that each person had two cupcakes, that was four hundred cupcakes he needed to make. His recipe made about twenty-four cupcakes, so that meant about seventeen batches of cupcakes that he needed to bake. Derek let out sigh. He was going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

He got mixed reactions when he told his family what he'd agreed to. Laura and Uncle Peter thought he was crazy. His mom was pleased but a bit concerned about the amount of responsibility he had taken on. Cora wanted to know if she could have any of the extra cupcakes if there were any, and his dad was just pleased.

"I knew we'd turn you into a chef."

Derek got to work making lists of things he'd need and checking to see what he had at home. He had four sets of cupcake tins that each held twelve cupcakes, so technically he could bake forty-eight cupcakes at a time, but the problem was, he could only double the size of a batch of batter given the size of the mixer he had. He was also going to have to figure out a good way of transporting all of the cupcakes. He didn't have enough Tupperware for four hundred cupcakes.

He was also going to have to bake the cupcakes over several days. There was no way he could make seventeen batches of cupcakes in one day. Plus other people needed to use the kitchen too. So two days before the fourth of July, Derek got to work. He quickly feel into the rhythm of mixing, scooping, and cleaning. He got through about eight batches that day, carefully storing them in the freezer out in the garage. The next day he was back at it.

His family members drifted in and out of the kitchen throughout the day. Laura ended up helping him for an hour or so, scooping batter into tins and washing dishes. His dad popped in for a little while and keep him company with stories of his times working for a catering service. He was up to nearly midnight, but Derek managed to get the rest of the cupcakes done that evening. That just left him to do the frosting in the morning.

Making enough pink lemonade frosting for four hundred cupcakes was an interesting endeavor. Thankfully, because it was the same frosting for all of the cupcakes, he didn't have to stop and clean the pastry bag between batches. Even so, Derek had everything frosted and ready to go with plenty of time to spare. The most nerve-wracking part was actually packing up the cupcakes and figuring out who to secure them in his car. Derek was pretty sure that it was the slowest he every drove with every stop sign and stoplight bringing the terror that he'd somehow ruined the cupcakes.

All of them arrived at the park in just fine condition, though Derek was stressed until opened the boxes and saw that the cupcakes had survived the trip.

"Hey, Derek!" Stiles was waving at him from his spot besides a grill.

The younger teen ran up to him with a bright grin. "You've got the cupcakes?"

Derek nodded. "Where do you want them?"

"Give me a couple of those boxes, and I'll show you. We've got a table all set up."

He reluctantly handed over one of the boxes of cupcakes to Stiles and followed him over to a card table that had been set up. It even had a couple of those cake stands with the multiple tiers on it for the cupcakes. He directed Stiles to start loading the cupcakes onto the table while he went and go the rest of them.

"I know exactly how many cupcakes were in the boxes, Stiles, and I'll know if any of them are missing," he warned before heading back to his car.

Stiles just pouted at him. By the time Derek had retrieved the rest of the cupcakes and brought them back to the table, Sheriff Stilinski had joined his son, and Derek was pleased to see the man keeping a close eye on the cupcakes. The sheriff looked up and smiled at Derek.

"Derek, these look amazing. I can't thank you enough."

Derek smiled and ducked his head a little. "They're not quite done. Just let me get the garnishes on, and then you'll be good to go."

He pulled out a plastic bag full of lemon slice candies to put on top of the cupcakes. In short order, they were all ready to go. The sheriff clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thanks again, Derek. You can turn your receipts in to Tara, and she'll make sure you get a check."

Derek nodded. Stiles smiled at him. "Do you want to stick around and get a burger? Westfall is working the grill this year, and he makes the best burgers."

He smiled. "Sure."


	13. Mint Chocolate Cupcake

Shortly after the Fourth of July, Laura announced that Jordan, her military penpal, would be coming to visit. They all knew that Laura and Jordan had been writing letters back and forth for close to a year now. Laura had met him in person earlier in the year, and from what Laura had said, it had gone quite well. Him coming to meet the family was a big deal though, and Derek wasn't sure he had ever seen his older sister so nervous.

For all of her bravado most of the time, Laura was a little more uncertain when it came to the things she really cared about. She had agonized over her choice of universities for months for example, and Derek knew that this whole thing about changing her major had her tied up in knots. It was clear to Derek at least that Laura was falling for Jordan, and it scared her shitless. He didn't exactly blame her. His own forays into romance had been rather disastrous, and he didn't think he'd been looking for love anytime soon.

But Laura wasn't him. Laura was good at reading people, and if she liked Jordan, he was probably trust worthy. Derek didn't really know much about him other than the fact that he was in the military, and he was Laura's age. He'd seen one photo of the guy, but he didn't know anything about what sort of food Jordan liked or what his hobbies were. But Derek was determined to make a good impression on the guy for Laura's sake. She had enough to worry about with the possibility that the rest of the family might scare him off.

Derek knew that his family was a little intense at times. And they had only gotten more protective of their own since Kate. He had no doubt that Jordan was probably going to find them a little bit intimidating. Plus there was the whole werewolf secret. If their relationship was going to go anywhere, Laura was going to need to tell Jordan about them, and Derek could think of far too many ways that could go wrong. So he did his best to stay calm and be supportive while Laura freaked out a little.

Cupcakes were good for distracting her, and he started perfecting the recipe for a mint chocolate cupcake. It was Laura's favorite flavor of ice cream after all, and hopefully having her be his taste tester would be a good distraction until Jordan got there. After that, Derek didn't really know what to expect.

Laura needn't have worried so much. Jordan got along with just about everyone. He had almost immediately charmed their parents, and the only one who seemed to hold back from welcoming him was Peter. But at least Peter wasn't making trouble just yet. Derek had been a little uncertain about Jordan might treat him and his hobby of baking, but the guy seemed to like cupcakes just as much as everyone else, and there had been no ribbing over the fact that Derek was baking them, so that was good.

He was little surprised to get home from work one afternoon and start working in the kitchen only to have Jordan wander in. Derek sort to did a double take, but he didn't stop combining ingredients for the batter. He had finally gotten the proportions right on the mint and the chocolate he thought, and he wanted to test it out. Laura kept complaining that the cupcakes were either too minty or too chocolaty, no matter how Derek tinkered with the recipe. With any luck, this batch would satisfy her.

Jordan watched as he mixed in the eggs and the other wet ingredients. It wasn't until Derek had turned off the mixer that he spoke.

"Do you think I could learn how to make those?" Jordan asked.

Derek blinked. "If I've got the proportions right, sure. I didn't know you baked."

Jordan looked sheepish. "I don't really. But Laura loves your baking, and she misses it when she's at college. I know I probably can't make cupcakes as good as yours, but I thought it could be something I could do for her when she's homesick. She's been so fantastic about caring for me while I was away, and I wanted to be able to return the favor a little."

Derek was stuck on the fact that Laura missed his baking. "Are you serious? Because Laura's always complaining about how much time I spend in the kitchen and how I'm turning into a housewife."

Jordan just shrugged. "I don't know about that, but she talked about your baking a lot in her letters. She was craving some sort of pastry thing you make during finals for example. And before I came out here, she promised that you made the best cupcakes I've ever tasted."

He was pretty sure he was blushing. "I don't know about that. But I can show you how to make cupcakes. You can help me get these in the oven, and then I'll show you how to make frosting."

After showing Jordan how to scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, he let the older man fill the rest of the tray.

"So how are you finding Beacon Hills?"

Jordan smiled. "I like it here. I've been feeling restless ever since I got back to the States, but not here. I wouldn't mind moving to the area when my active service ends in a couple of months. I've been thinking about switching to law enforcement, and the sheriff's department here has a good reputation."

Derek just nodded. At least it sounded like Jordan was pretty serious about sticking around. That would definitely make Laura a little less crazy. He slid the cupcake tins into the oven and set the timer, and then started pulling out the ingredients for the frosting. Derek started explaining the process. The mixer was going when Jordan said.

"I have to admit you guys are a little more intense than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, for the most part you've really made me feel like I'm welcome, but I get the feeling that if I ever hurt Laura, no one would ever find my body."

He shrugged a little. "Everyone's gotten a little overprotective since last fall. I don't know if Laura mentioned anything about it?"

Jordan shook his head. "Not really. Just that there had been some sort of threat to the family."

Derek debated how much to tell him. "Well, it was a threat because someone had manipulated my trust. We're all a little wary about strangers these days. Then again, you're not really a stranger now, and everyone likes you. Well, everyone except for Uncle Peter, but I'm not sure he really likes anyone."

Jordan laughed. "Well, that's good to know since I'd like to stick around for a while."


	14. Root Beer Float Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream

It didn't take Derek long to figure out what sort of cupcake that Jordan might really enjoy. Given the man's drink of choice seemed to be root beer, Derek was pretty sure a root beer cupcake was a sure bet. And given his mom had announced that she was going to host another one of her infamous barbeques before Jordan left, it seemed like a good time to try it out. The barbeques were a long standing tradition of hers that happened just about every summer. The guest list seemed to be a little different each time, but the one thing that Derek had finally started to notice was it was always people who were well known in the community. He figured it was her way of making sure that the family didn't become "those weirdoes who live out in the woods".

This time around it seemed like she had invited most of the emergency services in town, everyone from the sheriff and his deputies to the fire chief and ambulance crew. Then again, the Hales probably owed them all one. She had also invited the Argents, and Derek wasn't sure if that was to offer a hand of friendship or to show that the Hales were well known and respected in the community. Or both. Derek would leave pack politics to his mom and his sister. He was glad he would never really have to worry about that.

Derek found he didn't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen with his cupcakes due to being drafted to helping get tables set up in the backyard and running errands for his dad. So it was only the morning the barbeque that he was really able to steal any time to make cupcakes. Thankfully, the recipe wasn't that different than one Derek had used last year when he'd made Cora orange cream soda cupcakes for her birthday.

By the time people were showing up for the barbeque, Derek was just finishing frosting the cupcakes. He just had to get them on plates and get the root beer barrels he'd bought for garnishes on them. Halfway through that task, Stiles appeared in the doorway.

"Derek? Your mom sent me to see if you needed any help?"

Derek looked up from his work. "You can take that plate out. I just have to finish this one, and then I'm all set."

Stiles smiled at him. "All right."

When Derek got out to the backyard, he found the barbeque in full swing. His dad was at the grill laughing with the sheriff and some firemen. His mom was actually chatting with Victoria Argent and both women were smiling. Stiles and Cora were over by the cupcakes heatedly debating something. He spotted Jordan with his arms wrapped around Laura, taking bites out of the cupcake she offered him. It looked like everything was going quite well.

He heard the footsteps behind him, so he managed to keep a hold of the plate of cupcakes when Chris Argent spoke up.

"I wanted to thank you. Allison mentioned what you did for her and the advice you gave her. We've been so focused on other things that neither Victoria or I noticed something was wrong."

Derek just shrugged uncomfortably. "It's not a problem. I would have done it for any of the girls at school."

"Still, I appreciate it. I know that our families don't have a great history, but it's good to see that maybe we don't have to be enemies."

He really didn't know what to say. He avoided pack politics for a reason, and dealing with hunters was not something he was comfortable with. And while he knew that Chris and his family weren't Kate, that didn't mean that he really was comfortable hanging out around them. Thankfully, Stiles rescued him.

"Derek, are those the rest of the cupcakes?" the younger teen made grabby hands at the plate of cupcakes.

"Oh no you don't." He held them out of Stiles' reach. "How many of these have you already had?"

Stiles pouted, and Derek grinned, even as he sidled around him and headed towards the dessert table.


	15. Chai Tea Cupcake

Derek would freely admit that he was hiding. There were several reasons for that. Since Jordan had left, it had suddenly become his turn to be in the spotlight instead of Laura. And Derek got the fact that he was going to be a senior this year, and he was going to have to start applying to colleges soon, but Derek really wasn't ready to think about that. Unfortunately for him, it had been the topic of conversation for just about every time his was around either his parents.

He was still stuck with the same dilemma. Derek didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, and he didn't have any idea what he was looking for in a school. Except Derek did want to leave Beacon Hills. But that didn't really narrow things down much. He kept hoping that something would happen, and he'd suddenly know what he wanted to do with his life. So far, nothing, but Derek didn't really have a better idea at the moment. It probably wasn't the best strategy, but he didn't have any other ideas at the moment.

Which was why Derek was still at the library even though his shift had ended about an hour ago. He really didn't want to go home and hear about college from his dad, mom, and Laura. Eventually, he would have to go home, but he was going to avoid it as long as possible. Derek was browsing the fantasy section when he ran into Stiles. The other teen grinned at him.

"Hey, Derek."

He smiled at Stiles, reaching for the first book in the Mage Winds trilogy.

Stiles' grin widened. "I love her books. Have you read any of the others yet?"

He nodded. "I'm working my way through the entire list. I started with the Mage Wars books last fall."

"Awesome. That's my favorite trilogy of the series actually," he said, pointing out the book in Derek's hand. "It's a little slow at the start, but the payoff is completely worth it."

Stiles drew him into a conversation about the series, and before he knew it, Derek could hear his stomach grumbling. He blushed. Stiles just laughed.

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" he asked. "Dad's got a double, so it's just me. It's nothing fancy, just pasta, but it should be good."

A dinner without people badgering about college sounded good to him. "Let me check with my parents."

Derek wasn't surprised when they said yes. He followed Stiles to his house, parking his car in front of the house. Stiles let them inside and headed for the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home. I'm just going to get the pasta started. There's stuff in the fridge if you want a drink."

Derek followed him, poking idly in the fridge while Stiles filled a pot with water and got it on the stove all the while talking about the series of books. That somehow expanded to favorite fantasy series.

"I think I could make us some chai tea cupcakes for dessert," Derek offered when Stiles finally paused for breath. "It looks like you have everything I need."

"Really?" Stiles' eyes lit up. "I'm never going to say no to your cupcakes, dude."

"Yeah."

So Derek got to work on the cupcakes while Stiles made dinner. Thankfully, Stiles had a box of chai tea concentrate in fridge which was the main thing that Derek needed. As he put together the batter, Stiles changed the subject again.

"So is the cupcake thing a hobby or are you planning opening your own shop one of these days?"

Derek blinked. "It's sort of a hobby? I mean, I never really thought about opening a shop. I mostly bake because I like it. I have no clue what I'm going to do after high school."

"Well, I vote for cupcake shop, but mostly because I like the idea of getting your cupcakes anytime I want. It would be really cool if you had a theme of some sort like geek cupcakes with cool names like Holy Bananas Batman or Pinky Pie Pink Lemonade. Or if you wanted something a little more serious, you could go with a literary theme."

Derek just shrugged, but he was turning the idea over in his mind. "What about you? Do you have plans for after high school yet?"

Stiles grinned. "Sort of. I mean, I haven't actually looked for a school yet, but I'm pretty sure I want to go into law enforcement like my dad. I like untangling mysteries and putting clues together on things, and I think it would be a good fit."

By the time Derek left the Stilinski house with some of the left over cupcakes, he was in a good mood. It had been a fun evening, and Derek had enjoyed Stiles' company. Stiles had spent a lot of the evening trying to come up with silly names for cupcakes, some of which had been hilarious. And he might have a point about the cupcake shop. Derek didn't think he would mind spending every day baking.


	16. Apple Spice Cupcake with Cinnamon Frosting

Derek wasn't sure how he felt about the start of school. It was his senior year, and Derek knew it was the last year he would spend here, and despite everything, Derek did have some good memories from this place. But there were also a lot of bad ones as well. He was ready to get away from high school even if Derek wasn't sure where he would go from there. Of course, he wasn't the only one in the pack entering their senior year. Boyd would also be done with high school after this year, but he already had plans. Boyd had decided to study forestry at UC Berkley; he was hoping to join the Forest Service afterwards.

He knew that part of the reason that Boyd had chosen UC Berkeley was the fact that Erica was also hoping to go there in once she graduated. Derek didn't have any connections pulling him one direction or another. There was always the draw of staying close to home, but Derek was torn about that. On the one hand, staying close to home meant the pack was nearby, and Derek had always been a bit of a homebody. But he also found the idea of getting away attractive right now.

For all that he loved his family, there were times, especially lately, that he felt like he didn't belong here. Derek didn't know if it was everything that had happened, the age he was, or what. So going away for school might be a good thing. Having some time away from everyone in Beacon Hills might help him get back to normal. It definitely wouldn't hurt to be some place where not everyone knew who he was and what had happened to him.

However, with school starting, it was easy to get distracted from college worries by the sheer amount of homework that was being assigned. Before the first week of school was even over with Derek had more homework than he knew what to do with. It probably didn't help that he was taking AP English, History, and French, but he'd never expected to be this deluged with homework. He barely had any time for anything else.

It also didn't help that Beacon Hills was enjoying an Indian summer. It was in the nineties every day, and Beacon Hills High School didn't have air conditioning. Throw in the fact that Derek always ran hotter than most people due to the fact that he was a werewolf, and it was a recipe for a very grumpy teenager. By the third week of school, he resembled a grizzly bear more than a wolf. So it wasn't entirely surprising when his mom pulled him aside when he got home from school on Friday.

"Derek, sweetheart, I know that you're stressed out, but snapping at everyone is not okay. Now, your father has suggested that maybe some uninterrupted time in the kitchen might help you mood, so you'll have the house to yourself tomorrow afternoon."

Derek nodded. Having the house to himself was a rare thing these days and he would definitely take advantage of it. So when he woke to an empty house the next morning, Derek put on his music and got to work in the kitchen. He didn't want even think about anything other than the baking at hand. So he pulled out one of the more complicated recipes from his and apple spice cupcakes fit the bill.

They had plenty of apples in the house, and Derek quickly set to work chopping apples and mixing spices. It didn't take long before he had the first batch in the oven. It didn't turn out quite the way he had wanted it to, far too mushy inside, so another batter was put together. That one turned out not to have enough apple flavor which meant by the time his mom and his sister arrived home, the third batch of cupcakes was going into the oven.

They weren't alone however. Stiles was with them as well, chattering about some sort of chemistry project he and Cora were partners for. The two of them quickly claimed Derek's discarded cupcakes before disappearing to go work on their homework. Derek continued on with his baking. It seemed like third time was a charm for when he pulled the latest batch of cupcakes out of the oven, they looked perfect and tasted better. When his father returned home twenty minutes later, Derek was just putting the finishing touches on the frosting.

The afternoon alone had done wonders for Derek's mood. He felt far more settled and willing to deal with people again. Which was good since Stiles ended up staying for dinner. Thought that wasn't as bad as it could have been. Even if the topic of college did come up. Stiles apparently had already started research. His problem apparently was that while he could find colleges with programs he's interested in, he can't find one that has several strong programs he's interested in. Stiles may not know exactly what he wants to do, but he wants to at least have choices if one path doesn't turn out to be the right one without having to transfer schools.

Stiles headed home shortly after dinner, but he did get Derek thinking. Maybe he didn't have know exactly what he wanted to study, if he could find a school with a couple of things to try that might work as well.


	17. French Vanilla Cappuccino Cupcake

Describing Cora as a miniature version of Laura was a mistake. There were elements of truth in that. Derek's two sisters were very similar in a lot of ways, both in looks and in personality. But in Derek's mind the major difference between the two was that Laura had learned diplomacy and tact in her training to be the next alpha where Cora was all blunt force. Both were stubborn and persistent as hell, so Derek entirely surprised when Cora cornered him one afternoon and demanded cupcakes for her prom committee meetings.

Well, he was surprised by the fact that Cora had signed up for the prom committee. She really hadn't been interested in high school social events until now. Of course, junior prom was pretty much the major event of your high school career in Beacon Hills, so that could have something to do with it. Derek hadn't gone to his. He hadn't wanted to and there hadn't been anyone he wanted to go with. Both Paige and Kate had been too fresh in his mind.

But he wasn't going to begrudge his little sister her chance to enjoy the event. According to Cora, there would be about half a dozen people showing up for the meeting. He figured two cupcakes apiece should work which meant all he really needed to do was find a recipe that Cora would like. In the end he settled French Vanilla cappuccino cupcakes. Cora loved cappuccinos, and Derek figured the rest of the committee might like the cupcakes as well.

It didn't take Derek long to whip up a test batch of cupcakes for Cora to try. Once she approved them, he'd be ready to go. Hopefully, once he delivered the cupcakes Cora would leave him alone. He had absolutely no interest in anything to do with Cora's junior prom, and it would be safer for his sanity if he could stay out of it all.

Unfortunately for Derek, Cora's meeting was scheduled on a day when no one else was home, so he was stuck supervising. When he brought in the plate of cupcakes, Derek was a little surprised to find along with Cora and Erica in the living room was both Allison Argent and Lydia Martin. No one else seemed to have arrived yet, but that was enough to make Derek leery. Erica and Cora on their own were a force to be reckoned with. Lydia Martin was the undisputed social queen of Beacon Hills high, even if she was only a junior. According to Stiles she had hidden depths, though Derek had never seen them, but he did know that Lydia was known for throwing the best parties.

He dropped off the cupcakes and skedaddled back to the kitchen. Even if that wasn't the entire prom committee, there was enough personality in the living room that Derek really didn't want to have to get involved if a fight broke out. Luckily, he was able to hide in the kitchen for the most part, keeping an ear out for any trouble. Except for getting a call for a refill on cupcakes, luckily Derek still had plenty, he was pretty much able to leave them group to their own devices.

It was almost dinner time when the girls left, and Derek was completely out of cupcakes save the pair that he'd saved for himself. Erica was staying for dinner, and both she and Cora looked pretty pleased with themselves. Derek didn't want to know. All he really wanted was to get through his senior year without any trouble or incidents. But if making cupcakes for her prom committee made his little sister happy, Derek was willing to do that. At least as long as she gave him prior warning.


	18. Sticky Toffee Cupcake

Derek had always liked the fall. It was probably his favorite season. The weather was clear and crisp, and he liked to go running through the preserve after school to clear his head. Besides, Halloween was one of his favorite holidays, even if it was weeks away. Something about the fall season made Derek feel settled. It probably helped that by the time October hit he was well settled in the school routine. When Derek wasn't working on homework or working in the kitchen, he was starting to look for colleges. He knew that he had really left it to the last minute, but at least he was working on it now.

He actually had more of a challenge in the kitchen at the moment. Derek was trying to modify his current cupcake recipe and it wasn't going well. The biggest problem was that while dates were an important part of the recipe, he didn't like them. There had to be some for him to get a toffee cupcake without the dates, but so far he hadn't had much luck. Derek was still experimenting with substitutions though. Eventually, he figured he'd find something that worked.

What he didn't expect was for Stiles to show up in his kitchen one afternoon after school. The teen wandered into the kitchen looking nervous. After nearly five minutes of fidgeting and silence, Derek couldn't take it anymore.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Cora says you're really good at English," Stiles blurted out. "Mr. Debris says I have good ideas but my essays aren't focused enough. I was hoping you could help me? Tara's been helping me with math and science when I have problems, but English Lit isn't her strong suit, and I can't afford to have my grades slip right now so-"

"Okay," Derek cut him off. "What are you working on right now?"

Stiles stares at him for a long moment before pulling out a worn copy of _Pride and Prejudice_. "I've read it, watched at least two movie adaptations, and a web series based on it. We have to write an eight page paper making connections to the modern world with the book."

It didn't take much prompting on Derek's part to get Stiles talking about what he'd written so far, and Derek could see the problem. Stiles was great at making connections, but he tended to go off on tangents and struggled to get back to the point of the essay. Other than that he seemed to know what he was doing. Mostly, Stiles just seemed to need someone to pull him back to the point when he strayed, and Derek could do that.

The two of them quickly settled into an easy afterschool routine with Stiles coming by two or three days a week and setting up camp at the kitchen bar, reading parts of his essay aloud to Derek while Derek baked. It was sort of nice actually. Having company in the kitchen when they weren't underfoot. He enjoyed Stiles' company too. Even when they weren't talking about schoolwork, Derek found that they had more interests in common than he expected.

That scared Derek a little. How much he enjoyed spending time with Stiles. He didn't have friends outside of the pack much these days. But Stiles had slipped under his defenses more than once, and Derek was pretty sure that he wasn't going to hurt Derek or his pack. At least not deliberately. Of course, Stiles being around on a regular basis meant that Derek had to be far more careful at home than normal. Stiles was curious and he was observant. Derek had no doubt that if noticed something odd about Derek or his family, Stiles would do his level best to figure out what was going on. And that probably wouldn't be the best thing for Derek's family.

There was also the fact that Derek knew from some of what Stiles had said that one of the reasons he was spending his free time at the Hale's was because Scott was too busy with his girlfriend to hang out with him. Derek got that. Stiles didn't want to seem jealous of Allison but at the same time, he missed having his best friend around and suddenly had a lot of time to fill. Derek didn't really know Stiles that well, but he was getting attached in a way that made him more than a little nervous.

But Derek tried not to think about that. He wasn't ready to think about a friendship that might turn into a romantic attachment. So he focused on his baking and Stiles' English assignment.

"So, do you think I need more examples? I've got five, but it is an eight page essay and it's not quite a full eight pages."

Derek shook his head. "I think you're fine. You've illustrated you arguments with each example, and everything else is pretty solid. I think Mr. Debris will forgive the length. He always prefers substance over length. Try this. How does it taste?"

He set a cupcake in front of Stiles. Derek liked the results, but he wanted to double check that he wasn't the only one.

Stiles bit into the cupcake and grinned at him. "It's good. Caramel and buttery with a bit of chocolate."

Derek squashed down the little flutter in his stomach that he felt at that smile. "Good. I probably can't call it a sticky toffee cupcake anymore, but at least it's tasty."

Stiles grinned back at him. "I don't think you've ever made a bad cupcake, but I agree that this is the best version I've tasted so far."

The butterflies came back full force, but this time Derek let himself wonder if maybe things might work out in his favor if he let himself get attached.


	19. Butterbeer Cupcake

Halloween was Derek's favorite holiday, even if this year he was going low key. It was the one day of the year where he didn't have to worry about hiding his heritage. Admittedly, this year Derek was planning on hanging out at home, handing out candy, and watching movies. He knew there was a party, but Derek had no interest in going. However, the spirit of the season, Derek had decided to try his hand at making Butterbeer cupcakes. Harry Potter might not be Derek's favorite series, but they were enjoyable, and it seemed like a fun holiday project.

Cora seemed to agree. More often than not, he found her and Isaac hovering around the kitchen hoping for any discarded cupcakes. Isaac seemed much more settled these days. Of course in a lot of ways he was a pack favorite, and anyone messing with him at school would have to deal with the combined wrath of Derek, Cora, Erica, and Boyd. He was still living with the McCalls and seemed to have become close friends with Scott, but when he wasn't there he was at the Hale house or hanging out with Erica, Cora, and Boyd.

It was sort of nice having the two of them hang around the kitchen though even if it did remind Derek that Stiles wasn't around quite as much anymore. Since he'd finished his essay, Stiles hadn't been around to the Hale house that often, though he had on several occasions sat with Derek during lunch. It wasn't quite the same, but Derek had to admit that it was rather nice. Derek still wasn't sure how he felt about his growing attachment to Stiles. He had the feeling that he could fall for the younger teen if he gave it a chance, and Derek wasn't sure he was ready for that.

So instead he focused on baking and college applications. He'd found a handful of schools that had a couple of programs that Derek could see himself doing. None of them had really jumped out at him, so Derek figured he see what he could get into before worrying about which school he was going to choose. But at least he could tell his parents that he had applied to schools now. Hopefully, that would get them off of his case.

By the time that Halloween actually arrived, Derek had pretty much perfected his cupcakes so that they weren't too butterscotchy. Not that there was going to be anyone around besides himself to eat the cupcakes. Cora and Isaac were off to a Halloween party along with Erica and Boyd and his parents were going to some charity event over in Beacon Heights. Derek was on trick or treater duty, but they rarely got more than a handful each year being as far out of town as they were, so he was pretty much expecting a nice quiet evening on his own. He had movies to watch, and Derek was planning on enjoying the peace and quiet.

He was about halfway through _Clue_ when the sounds of running footsteps and panting breath. Derek frowned; it was coming from the preserve side of the house. It almost sounded like when the pack would run in the woods together except Derek knew that no one was supposed to be out in the preserve tonight. He hesitated a moment before grabbing his phone and going to investigate. He probably shouldn't. He knew he should just call his mom and stay put, but if someone was in trouble, they couldn't wait until his mom got home.

Once he was out the back door, it was easy to pick out the figures heading toward the house, and a gasped comment let Derek recognize at least one of the people. He had no idea what Stiles was doing out in the woods tonight, and Derek wasn't going to think about the fact that he could recognize the other teen's voice immediately. Moments later a pair of figures burst out of the trees. The moment that Stiles spotted the house, he turned sharply dragging the other person with him.

Derek waved at the pair, trying to keep alert for whatever might be chasing them. But his senses weren't picking up anything. Whatever it had been, it must be gone now.

"Derek, thank god. There's something in the woods. It bit Scott," Stiles gasped out, hands on his knees as he drew in deep breaths.

Scott was hunched over, arm wrapped around his side.

Derek frowned. "Get inside. We have a first aid kit. Did you see what bit you?"

Derek locked the door behind them. It itself might not stop what was out there, but at least it was a first line of defense.

"Did you see what bit you?" Derek asked as he grabbed the first aid kit from the downstairs bathroom.

Stiles and Scott shared a look. Stiles bit his lip. "You're not going to believe us."

"Try me. Take off your shirt, Scott."

"It had red eyes, and it looked like a wolf."

Well, that wasn't good. Derek winced when he saw the bloody bite mark and wiped at it with an anti-septic pad. He could see that the bit was already starting to heal which meant that Scott was turning. He needed to call his mom immediately. The last thing that their pack needed was a human bitten against their will. He couldn't imagine the trouble that this was going to cause with the local hunters, and there was also the matter of the fact that Scott still seemed to hate Derek's guts most of the time, and that wasn't going to make things any easier.

Derek sighed. "You're going to be okay. I need to call my mom."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I know what bit you, but it's better if my mom explains everything. I'll just make a mess of it. She'll be here as soon as possible once I tell her what happened."

"Is this all part of Jackson's prank? You're in on it too? Are you trying to get me in trouble."

Derek shook his head, trying to keep calm; the last thing he needed was to wolf out. But Scott's increasing agitation was picking at his control. Stiles placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Calm down, Scott." He looked straight at Derek. "We weren't seeing things."

Derek shook his head. "No. Let me call my mom. She's much better at this than I am. Help yourselves to cupcakes while you wait."

He was pulling out his cell when what Scott said sank in. "There are other people out on the preserve tonight?"

Stiles frowned. "Maybe. Jackson and Lydia were there when we went into the preserve. I don't know if they hung around. There was an emergency at home and Allison had to the leave the party. I don't think anyone else came with us."

But there still might be other people in the woods tonight, and there was a rogue Alpha on the loose. Derek bit back a curse. This was not going to be a good night.


	20. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake With Peanut Butter Buttercream

Everything was a mess. Scott wasn't the only one who had been attacked that night. Both Jackson Whittemore and Lydia Martin had been bitten as well. Lydia was in the hospital in a coma; she hadn't turned, but she wasn't dying either. Jackson was fine, but it didn't seem like he had turned either. But it all combined to make a huge mess.

Derek didn't know how to make Scott accept the pack. He didn't know why Jackson hadn't turned into a werewolf, even if his scent had changed to something other than human. He didn't know why Lydia hadn't woken up yet. He didn't know who the rogue Alpha was or where they had disappeared to. The entire pack was upset and on edge, and there was not much Derek could do to fix that.

He had actually been assigned to helping Scott get acclimated and fit in with the rest of the pack. He'd tried to tell his mom what a bad idea that was, but she hadn't listened. But even Isaac, as new to being a werewolf as he was, would have been a better choice because Scott actually liked him. He still seemed to hate Derek and clearly resented the idea that Derek was supposed to a friend and mentor now that he was a werewolf. They had already gotten off on the wrong foot before, and as Derek had found when he'd tried to explain that the bite was a gift, they had very different opinions on things.

To that Scott was not taking the news that he was now a werewolf well was an understatement. Especially when it earned him the disapproval of Allison's parents. Allison herself had been pretty understanding about the whole situation from what Derek could tell, but her parents weren't happy, and Scott was finding himself dealing with far more rules and restrictions when it came to his girlfriend than he was used to.

The Argents were not at all happy about the recent turn of events, and while they had accepted that Talia Hale was not the one who had bitten Scott, there was still the rogue Alpha out there, and that was making the hunters jumpy and aggressive which of course set the rest of the pack anxious. Nothing had happened yet, but Derek knew that his mom was worried about the potential powder keg situation that was building.

Oddly enough, the people who reacted the best to the Scott being bitten by a werewolf incident were Stiles followed by the Sheriff and Scott's mother, Melissa. Both the parents had had a bit of a freak out, but they had settled into the idea rather well. The sheriff especially since he now had explanations for some of his unsolved crimes on the books. Stiles had simply accepted that the supernatural was real and promptly wanted to know everything he could about it. But even with those good reactions, that was three more people who now knew and had to be integrated into the pack.

All of it was beginning to get to Derek which was why he had cooped the kitchen. He didn't know what he could do to help the pack at this point, but at least he could bake. Cupcakes did tend to put people in a better mood, and hopefully the comfort food would help out some. At the very least it would help him unwind a little. And peanut butter and chocolate seemed like a good comfort food combination

He wasn't surprised when Stiles wandered in to join him. Stiles had pretty much become a fixture around the Hale house since he'd discovered the supernatural was real. Derek's mom had given him permission to read just about anything in the library about the subject as long as he didn't take the books out of the house. So Stiles being constantly around was typical. Scott trailing after him was less so. Derek rarely saw Scott at the Hale house unless Melissa made him come.

"What kind are you making this time?" Stiles asked, peering into Derek's mixing bowl.

"Chocolate peanut butter."

Stiles' eyes went wide. "Dude. I think I love you. Nothing is better than chocolate and peanut butter."

Derek wasn't prepared for the way his heart seemed to skip a beat at that, but he smiled. "I figured it was good comfort food."

Scott was scowling at the two of them. "When did you two get so chummy?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "About when I learned that Derek makes the best cupcakes in the world, so sometime last spring."

Derek didn't say anything as he put the cupcakes in the oven. He was pretty sure that opening his mouth would make things worse. He never seemed to be able to say the right thing when it came to Scott. And he was pretty sure that if it came down to it, Stiles would take Scott's side over his.

Scott was still grumbling. "Great."

"Dude, try the cupcakes, and stop being a dick."

The silence while the cupcakes baked was only filled with Stiles' chatter as he expounded on everything from the history of werewolves in Europe to speculation on if the presence of werewolves on the team might improve lacrosse season. Scott scowled the entire time, and Derek made the peanut butter buttercream. He figured that was safe enough that it wouldn't set Scott off.

As soon as the timer dinged, Derek was pulling the cupcakes out of the oven and setting them aside to cool. Stiles made grabby hands for them. Derek chuckled.

"Wait until they're cool. Otherwise the frosting will just slide off."

"But they smell so good."

Derek just rolled his eyes. Scott's frown deepened. Derek was just bracing for the explosion that seemed to be building. He could feel the anger and unhappiness radiating off of Scott. He knew that this wasn't exactly what Scott had wanted or planned, but was it really so bad? It was wrong that the rogue Alpha had bit Scott without asking, but that wasn't the Hales' fault, and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to be a werewolf. Derek knew that it had cured Scott's asthma for one thing.

But the one time Derek had tried to point that out to the other teen, Scott had pretty much bit his head off, so Derek had kept his mouth shut since. So Derek carefully frosted his cupcakes in silence before handing the first one over to Stiles who pretty much inhaled it before holding a hand out for another. Derek just grinned.

Scott on the other hand was not amused. "He ruined my life, and you're sitting there eating cupcakes!"

Derek didn't drop the cupcake he was holding. He'd heard this before. It wasn't something new even if it still hurt to hear. Stiles stared at his friend.

"It's not like Derek had a choice either you know, or did you miss the part where he was born a werewolf. It would be like blaming you for being Hispanic," Stiles said softly. "And we both know who's really to blame, Scott. It's me. I'm the one who took Jackson's stupid dare and dragged you into the woods that night."

Scott's face softened. "What? How was it your fault? You couldn't know that there was a crazy alpha on the loose."

"But I'm the reason that you were there in the first place."

"So? It wasn't like you were trying to get me turned into a supernatural creature of the night."

"But-"

"The only person to blame is the rogue Alpha," Derek interrupted. "Mom and Mr. Argent will take care of him. Here."

He stuck a cupcake in Scott's hand. "Try that."

Scott looked skeptical but he bit into the cupcake. "It's good."

"Told you." Stiles crowed. "Derek makes the best cupcakes. Especially when you don't treat him like he's the one who bit you or treating him like a pariah for something both he and Allison have already gotten over."

Scott looked a little sheepish. "Sorry."

Derek just shrugged. It was something. Maybe they weren't quite pack yet, but it looked like they might be heading in that direction.


	21. Orange Clove Cupcakes

Derek wasn't sure what to make of Lydia Martin. He didn't really know the teenager. He knew who she was of course, no one at their school didn't. She was probably the most popular girl in the school and ruled with an iron first. According to Stiles, she was also incredibly smart. Actually, Stiles seemed to have a lot to say about Lydia Martin. He talked about her the way some people talked about religious figures, and Derek wasn't sure what to make of that either.

Nor did he know what to do with her hovering in his kitchen. Though to be completely fair, he didn't think that many people had seen this particular face of Lydia. Not that he blamed her for being shaken and not quite like herself. The past two weeks had been hellish for her, and Derek knew that even if most of it was over with, her future was pretty uncertain. The fact that no one was really sure what sort of supernatural heritage that she had, only that she was clear some sort of supernatural creature didn't help.

"Can I help you with something?" he finally asked, after watching her wander around the kitchen in silence for several minutes.

Lydia shook her head. "Stiles says you make good cupcakes. I wanted to try them for myself."

Derek shrugged. "As long as you're willing to wait. These have to bake and cool before they'll be ready."

It was Lydia's turn to shrug. "I'm not leaving until I know what's happening with Jackson."

He could understand that. Jackson was part of the reason the past two weeks had been so crazy. He's just thankful that the situation hadn't lasted longer. Jackson's reaction to the bite had been to become a kanima. The boy hadn't actually been aware of most of his transformations and actions save for some dreams. Which was probably for the best as far as Derek could tell. According to Stiles, who had started doing research the moment he knew there was something going on, it was because of Jackson's emotional state had affected his change, turning him into a snake like tool for vengeance. Because the thing about kanimas was that they could be controlled by a master.

Jackson had been used to kill two people before Derek's mom and Lydia had stopped him. They still didn't know who his master had been, but at least he didn't have to worry about being controlled any longer and was pretty much a normal werewolf at this point. However, his parents were all freaked out by the strange occurrences that had happened around their son (even if no one outside of the Hale pack knew just who had killed those people) and wanted to get him out of town. Jackson himself was more than a little shaken, though he seemed most comfortable when surrounded by the pack or when Lydia was near.

Derek knew that his mom was working on Jackson's parents to make sure that he would stay in Beacon Hills. The idea of a new werewolf being sent to strange place alone was a recipe for disaster even if Talia's connections could probably find a nearby pack. It would be better if the other teen just stayed in town. It was his parents that they would have to convince though, and Talia seemed to be doing a good job of that. But not knowing what was going to happen next had to be hard on Lydia. In the end, it had been her feelings for Jackson that had really made the difference in rescuing him. That sort of love was both powerful and a little bit scary. And he didn't think it was exactly easy to live with.

He carefully put the cupcakes in the oven and set the timer before turning his attention back to Lydia. She looked smaller than normal, bundled up in what had to be Jackson's sweatshirt and trackpants, hair pulled back in a messy bun that left red tendrils framing her pale face.

"Is there something I can do for you? Make tea?"

She looked like she could use something, and a cup of tea had been Nana's solution more often than not when a pack member was dealing with something emotional.

Lydia shook her head. "What kind of cupcakes are you making?"

"Orange and clove. I figured I'd experiment before Thanksgiving. Depending on how they turn out I might make them to supplement the pies for Thanksgiving. We never have enough desserts to satisfy people and it's shaping up to be an even bigger crowd than last year."

He started work on the frosting, wishing he had Stiles' ease of conversation. He really wasn't sure what to say to Lydia. He barely knew her, he couldn't reassure her that everything was going to be all right, and Derek was awkward at the best of times which this most certainly wasn't. Hopefully, the finished cupcakes themselves would be some sort of comfort even if Derek himself wasn't.

As if summoned by Derek's thoughts, Stiles bustled into the kitchen. He grinned gently at Lydia.

"Hey Lyds, I see you too have discovered the only place to be when Derek is baking. What'cha making this time, Der?"

"Orange clove cupcakes. They're an experiment mostly."

Stiles' cheerful chatter filled the kitchen while Derek finished up the frosting and took the cupcakes out of the oven. Derek had to slap his hands away from the still cooling cupcakes at least once, and he could felt Lydia's eyes, heavy on his back. Still, he does his best to act normally while he frosts the cupcakes, presenting the first to Stiles and the second to Lydia.

He helped himself to one as well and wrinkled his nose a little as he took a bite. It wasn't exactly what he had expected. It wasn't bad per se, but it also wasn't something that he thought his family was going to just gobble up. Still, he liked the citrus flavor to it. He might have been a little too heavy on the clove, but that was fixable. What wasn't was how other people found the taste. He watched to see Stiles and Lydia's reactions to the cupcakes.

"I like it. I'm not sure I'd eat a dozen of them, but I like it. It's different flavors than you normally get."

Stiles' cupcake had disappeared within the space of seconds. Lydia was still nibbling at hers, watching the two of them.

"I like its spice," Lydia finally said. "It gives the flavor an edge."

Derek just shrugged. "You don't think I need to tone it down some? I'll probably try them out on the pack before adding them to the Thanksgiving menu."

Lydia shook her head. "I like the bite of it."

Stiles' phone chirped and he made a face. "I got to go pick up Scott. Can I-"

His hand was already creeping towards the other cupcakes. Derek rolled his eyes and handed him two.

"Yes."

"Thanks, man."

Lydia shook her head as he left. Derek knew that the two of them hadn't exactly been friends before Lydia had been pulled into the world of the supernatural even if they had known one another. Stiles' infatuation with Lydia was well known, though Derek had to admit that he hadn't really seen signs of it at all in the past few months. There had been no more grand gestures or over the top declarations at school of late, and while it was clear that Stiles still respected Lydia a great deal, Derek didn't hear quite the same adoration in his voice when he talked about her anymore.

Then again, Stiles had been the one to really shepherd Lydia into the world of the supernatural. It was true that it had mostly been Lydia and Derek's mom who had done the work of rescuing Jackson, but it had been Stiles who had done much of the research. He'd also been the one to try and keep Lydia spirits up and try and support her at school.

"Stiles is a good friend," Lydia said aloud, making Derek blink.

"I know."

"I didn't. I never really thought about it before."

The look on her face wasn't one that Derek recognized. It was introspective and a little wistful, but beyond that, Derek couldn't tell what she was thinking. Then she looked at him and smiled.

"Can I have another cupcake?"


	22. Pfeffernüsse Spice Cupcake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

The orange clove cupcakes weren't exactly a hit with his family. Only his dad and Cora seemed to like them, so Derek scrapped that plan and moved on to a different recipe. Spice cookies were a family favorite, so he'd gone with that recipe instead. Spice cake was not a new thing for Derek to bake even if this recipe used a few things his others didn't, and it didn't take much experimentation for him to perfect the cupcakes.

Which was a good thing. Thanksgiving was a major event in the Hale family, and since his mom was the Alpha, they always hosted. And that meant that they were going to be invaded. Of course, some of the relatives would stay with other family members (it was probably the only reason Uncle Peter had been allowed to move out), but the Hale house would be jam packed for the next week.

It was something Derek both loved and hated. He loved being surrounded by his pack. It made him feel warm and content in a way that nothing else did. However, Derek hated the lack of privacy and how hard it was to find a moment alone. As much as he loved his family, he did need a little bit of peace and quiet on occasion. But really, the good outweighed the bad in this case.

The house was fuller than usual this year as well. While Erica, Boyd, Jackson, and Lydia were all doing their own things with their families for Thanksgiving, Isaac would be join the Hale horde as well as Stiles and Scott due to both Melissa and the Sheriff working on Thanksgiving. Plus, Jordan was in the States for the holidays, and Laura was bringing him home for Thanksgiving as well. Thankfully, they weren't all staying at the house, but it was definitely going to cause some creative seating arrangements. There was no way they were all going to fit at one table.

Of course, the real completion was for space in the kitchen. If Derek wanted to do anything in there, he'd need to stake out a spot early on. Which was why he was up at four in the morning making cupcakes. By six, his dad would be up and have commandeered the entire kitchen with the help of Aunt Kerra, and Derek would probably find himself drafted to help make the meal. Feeding a pack of werewolves could be a serious task even when it wasn't Thanksgiving, and Derek knew that his dad would be drafting just about everybody in the house to help out in one way or another.

So he wasn't at all surprised when his father wandered into the kitchen as Derek was pulling out the last tray of cupcakes out of the oven.

"I thought that something smelled good own here." His father durned on the coffee maker. "How long have you been up?"

Derek shrugged. "Maybe an hour."

There was a companionable silence in the kitchen while Derek set to work on making the buttercream and his dad began the Thanksgiving meal preparations. While much of the cooking itself wouldn't start until later, his dad always liked to get a head start on the prep work, and some items couldn't be made until others were finished. So Connor made coffee started on the stuffing, and Derek frosted cupcakes and tucked them safely away in Tupperware before anyone woke up and tried to eat them prematurely.

It wasn't long before more people started waking up and drifting in to the kitchen. Derek retreated from the kitchen when it had more than five people working inside with a bag of apples to peel. For all that it was Thanksgiving, the Hales always had apple pie as well as pumpkin. There would be two pumpkin pies tonight as well, but the apple pie was the important one. At least to Derek. He hated pumpkin pie. Well, he hated pumpkin just about anything.

Laura joined him in the living room before too long, turning on the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and working on her own assigned cooking tasks. Once he'd peeled and the sliced the apples, they were turned over to Aunt Kerra for the pie, and Derek found himself on errand duty, picking up any last minute things that they needed like bags of ice for the home made cranberry sherbet or extra vanilla when they were running low.

Unfortunately, that meant that Derek was the one who had to brave the grocery store. He did his best to be in and out as quickly as possible given that the people in the grocery story were crazy. It wasn't quite as crazy as the crowds on Black Friday (he'd let Laura drag him along on a shopping trip once), but Derek still felt rather on edge until he got out of the store. By the time that he had gotten back to the house, Derek found that the teenagers of the pack had been recruited to crank the cranberry sherbet were just waiting on the ice.

Stiles was practically vibrating as they started dumping the ice into the ice cream maker. Derek wasn't surprised that they were munching on the cupcakes as they waited in the garage with the ice cream machine. Well, it wasn't really a machine in Derek's mind. It was a bucket that had a hand crank you would attach to the top.

"I can't believe that you guys actually make your own ice cream."

Derek just shook his head. "Tell me that after you've been cranking this thing for an hour. I know they make motorized ones, but Dad insists that it's tradition to make it by hand."

Stiles made a face at him. "So jaded, so young."

"Say that again when the ice cream is done."

Derek left him, Scott, and Isaac to get to work and headed back to the kitchen, bypassing the dining room where he could hear his mom organizing the tables and their settings. Thanksgiving was one of the few times of the year that they used the fine china and good silver, and Derek knew that all he would have to do was poke his nose in the room and he would be drafted to help out. Of course, that was exactly what happened with his dad when he entered the kitchen.

Still, the day passed with laughter and fun, and for the first time in ages, Derek felt completely at home with his pack, no longer holding himself a little bit apart from them. Dinner itself was a loud raucous affair. Derek found himself squeezed in with the rest of the teens in the pack at a card table at the end of the long dining room table. It wasn't until Derek settled on the couch with his apple pie for the annual watching of _The Blues Brothers_ that Derek really thought about just how happy he had been all day.

Stiles flopped down next to him on the couch with a bright smile and a plate crammed with two pieces of pie (one pumpkin and one apple) and the last of the cupcakes.

"Thanks for this by the way," he said. "I haven't had a Thanksgiving like this in years. Normally we do the station potluck if Dad doesn't have to work or I eat with the McCalls if he does, but this was really nice. I felt like part of the family."

Derek stared at him. "You are a part of the family. You're pack."

Stiles blinked at him. "Really?"

Derek frowned. "Of course, you're pack. Both you and your dad."

Stiles' smile seemed to grow even brighter, and Derek felt his heart clench in his chest.


	23. Gingerbread Cupcake

Derek was terrified. Which was why he was frantically baking. Well, he did have another excuse. It was the holiday season in the Hale household, and that meant all sorts of events that could use cupcakes. His parents were hosting all sorts of holiday parties, and there were plenty of potlucks and other events that someone would need to bring refreshments to. So Derek was practically living in the kitchen and churning out batch after batch of gingerbread cupcakes to keep himself from thinking.

Because if he thought about the fact that his little crush on Stiles had turned into something more significant, Derek was going to panic. So he just kept on baking. Not that anyone was complaining about that. In fact, Derek would venture to say that most of the pack was extremely pleased with the fact that there was always a cupcake available to them at the moment.

He wasn't ready to think about how Stiles' smile made his heart skip a beat or how much he liked it when the other teen chattered at him while he baked. Stiles' eyes lit up like liquid amber when he was excited about the topic at hand, and he was steadfastly loyal to those he cared about. He always seemed to know when Derek needed space, but he gave as good as he got in their arguments. He made Derek feel far more than he'd ever expected; it completely terrified him.

And Derek knew that Stiles wasn't going to hurt him, not intentionally at least. Stiles had more than proved he was pack, and Derek trusted him. What Derek didn't trust was himself. It was his judgement that had been wrong so many times. He was the one who had listened to Uncle Peter about Paige and gotten her killed. He was the one who had trusted Kate and nearly destroyed his own family. And while Derek might have accepted that not all of that was his fault, it was still true that his decisions had made those things possible.

The idea of making a decision that might hurt Stiles kept Derek from even thinking about doing something. Stiles deserved better. And the last thing that Derek needed to do was destabilize the pack by doing something that got Scott's best friend hurt. Scott was slowly accepting the pack, but something like Stiles getting hurt could set him at odds with them again. So Derek was going to have to settle for having Stiles as a friend and work on quashing all of these feelings that made him want more.

What Derek hadn't expected was to be ambushed by Stiles with a request to bake cupcakes for some event for the sheriff's department or Stiles' request that he do the baking at the Stilinski home. Still, Derek was happy to oblige, and the Stilinski kitchen did have all the equipment he needed. He wasn't expecting the way that Stiles hovered anxiously as he got set up. As Derek began to mix up the ingredients, Stiles finally spoke.

"I bet you're wondering why I asked you to bake over here instead of at your place."

Derek shrugged. "Not really."

Stiles just sighed. "Look, I need to run something by you before I take it to your mom. You know how we never found that Alpha that bit Scott? I think I figured out who it is."

Derek raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

Stiles slumped. "Yeah. You're not going to like it though."

"I like the fact that we have a rogue Alpha at large even less."

"All right. You'll have to bear with me because it won't make sense unless I explain everything."

So Derek mixed up the batter while Stiles laid out what he'd put together. Derek was both impressed and appalled. Stiles really was brilliant when it came to piecing things together, but he didn't seem to have much thought for his own safety. He also had a sinking feeling in his stomach as Stiles presented connection after connection. So he wasn't really surprised, just sort of resigned, when Stiles concluded with, "So, I'm about ninety-eight percent sure that Peter is the Alpha we're looking for."

He sighed and stuck the cupcakes into the oven. "Have you told anybody else about this?"

Stiles shook his head. "No. I wanted to be sure before I did. But it sounds like you believe me."

Derek just winced. "It makes a lot of sense. And Uncle Peter hasn't been around much since school started. But he hasn't been causing trouble either, and Mom's had her hands full with other things. As much as I hate to admit it, I haven't been able to trust him in a while."

Then he frowned. "We need to talk to my mom now. If Peter has any clue that you know, he's going to come after you. He needs to be stopped before it comes to that."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, nephew."

Derek's brain might have frozen, but his instincts hadn't. He grabbed for the younger teen, dragging Stiles behind him. He could feel his fangs dropping and his face shifting. Not that it would help necessarily. If it came down to a real fight, Peter had him outclassed. He was older and more experience, plus there was the fact that Derek didn't really want to hurt his uncle, and he wasn't sure that Peter felt the same way about him. He really didn't like the way his uncle was smirking at him.

"Now, Derek, this doesn't have to be ugly. I know you're fond of the boy, but really, I think we can all agree that it's best that you not get too attached to anyone these days. It never seems to end well, now does it?"

Behind him, Stiles made an inarticulate noise of anger; Derek was more focused on keeping himself between Stiles and Peter. He was just waiting for Peter to attack, and the more time his uncle spent talking rather than attacking them, the more time they had for help to come. Hopefully, Stiles had had the sense to text for help. But Derek knew that Peter wasn't going to keep talking forever. Sooner or later he was going to attack, and then they were all in trouble. Hopefully, he could hold out long enough for Stiles to be able to get out of the house and away. Derek didn't think that Peter would risk exposing them at this point. So at least Stiles might survive this fight.

When Peter pounced, Derek was ready. He yelled at Stiles to run and did his best to block Peter. But it wasn't long before he was on the ground under Peter, trying his best to protect his vulnerable throat. However, Derek wasn't expecting the gun that went off or Peter to retreat. His head was pounding, and he couldn't quite figure out what was going on, but he could feel Stiles' hand on his shoulder and smell pack in the air over the scent of the baking cupcakes and gun powder.

"Stay down," Stiles said softly. "We're safe. Your mom is taking care of things."


	24. Sparkling Apple Cider Cupcake

He still had three recipes to go on his New Year's resolution, and Derek was pretty sure that he wasn't going to get to them before the year was over with. He didn't really care. Either way he was going to keep baking. To be honest, he was rather glad to see the end of the holidays. Not that he wanted to go back to school exactly, but the Christmas break this year hadn't exactly been the break that everyone else got. Things had been absolutely crazy since it came to light that Peter was the rogue Alpha, and a lot of the winter break had been the pack dealing with the fallout.

It had not been fun, but they had managed to have a good Christmas anyway. Things were finally beginning to settle down, and Derek was hoping that they could get back to normal soon. Peter had survived both the wolfsbane bullet Stiles had shot him with and an Alpha who was very angry that her child had been attack. He'd also been turned over to several powerful emissaries who were able strip him of his stolen Alpha spark and place a binding spell on him. He was currently serving out his punishment under the eyes of a very powerful Alpha up in Canada and her equally power emissary sister.

Actually knowing who was responsible had helped with the Hales relationship with the Argents, and while Scott had initially been very upset with the Hales, he'd come around. So the new year was looking very good for the Hale pack, and Derek was definitely feeling much better than last year. Even if he was a bit nervous about tonight.

He and Stiles were hosting a party for the teens of the pack at the Stilinski home. Well, Stiles was hosting, and Derek was providing the cupcakes to go with the pizza they'd ordered. Stiles had become something of a constant feature in Derek's life. It was like he was afraid to let Derek out of his sight which made no sense what so ever to Derek. Peter hadn't managed to hurt him very badly, and Derek had healed just fine. Stiles had also become much more tactile with Derek as well. He was always seemed to be brushing up against Derek or touching his shoulder or sitting next to him on couch with next to no space between them.

Derek would be lying if he said he didn't like that. And he had to admit that he was rethinking his whole keeping his distance when it came to Stiles. It certainly hadn't kept Stiles out of trouble, and he'd almost lost Stiles anyway. But Derek had to admit he was still scared too. He wasn't sure he was ready to put himself out there again. But he did trust Stiles, and maybe this time it would be different.

The timer went off, and Derek was pulled from his thoughts as he rushed to pull the cupcakes from the oven. This was actually his third batch. Cooking with carbonated drinks was always a little tricky, and while Derek was an old pro at using soda in cupcakes, sparkling cider was turning out to be a challenge. However, the batch that he pulled out of the Stilinski's oven looked good and bounced back nicely when he tapped the tops. Hopefully, they would look good on the inside as well.

He could hear Stiles in the living room, setting up video games and movies. It was comforting to be able to track his presence by his heartbeat. It wasn't until after Peter had attacked them that Derek had realized that he'd been automatically listening for Stiles' heartbeat when he was around. It was especially soothing now that all he had to do was listen and he could be reassured that Stiles was safe and sound.

"How did they turn out this time?" Stiles popped his head into the kitchen.

Derek shrugged. "They look good. I'm just waiting for them to cool down a little so I can check the insides."

"Do I get to try one?" There was a hopeful look on his face.

He laughed. "Don't you always? Give me a few more minutes, and I'll have some frosting ready."

Stiles grinned and snagged one of the kitchen table chairs. "So, we've got just about everybody confirmed to come. I've got a wide selection movies and of course, Mario Kart. Pizza is ordered and should arrive shortly. Dad's going to check on us, but he's got the evening shift so the house is ours. You've got the cupcakes. Am I forgetting anything?"

He shook his head. "I think we're good. Let me just get these cooled and frosted and then we'll be ready to go."

By the time the doorbell rang, Derek had a platter full of cupcakes ready to go as well as a couple of extras he left in the kitchen. Erica, Boyd, and Cora all arrived together with bags of snack food and a few back up movies. Hot on their heels were Allison, Scott, and Isaac with Lydia and Jackson showing up before the door had closed. Danny showed up minutes later and there was a mad dash for the remaining places to sit that weren't the floor. There was quite of a bit of laughter and bickering before the group finally settled on a movie to watch, but Derek couldn't say he minded it.

It was sort of rare that all of them were in the same space at the same time for all that they were pack. During all pack events or pack meetings, yes, but other than that, they mostly hung out in smaller groups. And while there was clearly some tension between certain pack members, like the insults Jackson and Stiles traded, they were still comfortable with one another, and Derek felt safe with this group in a way he didn't with most of his fellow high school students.

He also ended up sitting on the floor with Stiles using him as a pillow. Even with most of the group being teenage werewolves, there was plenty of pizza to around, and enough snarking to make the movie fun without being too distracting. By the time midnight was approaching, Stiles was sprawled all over Derek, and most of the couples had gotten cozy in preparation for their New Year's kiss.

Just before midnight, the TV was switched to the countdown. When the ball dropped and the fireworks went off there were cheers and kisses, but Derek's world narrowed to the feel of Stiles' lips pressed against his cheek.


	25. Ginger Cupcake With Greem Tea Frosting

January was miserable. All right to be fair, just the weather in January was miserable; Derek himself was quite happy. Ever since New Year's Eve, Derek was pretty much walking on air. Admittedly, Stiles' kiss had led to an awkward conversation where Stiles hadn't quite apologized but he'd also made it clear that he hadn't wanted to pressure Derek into anything, but he really liked Derek. He wanted to see Derek was interested in maybe something more than friendship, and he totally understood if Derek wasn't ready to date again just yet, but he thought he'd throw the idea out there.

Derek had been nervous but willing to give it a try. He couldn't deny that he wanted to date Stiles, even if it scared him more than a little. And so far, it had been good. It helped that dating Stiles wasn't that much different than hanging out with Stiles; there was just more cuddling and hand holding and the occasional kiss or two. Everyone seemed pretty supportive so far, even if his sisters wouldn't stop teasing him. Quite honestly, Derek had been most worried about the sheriff's reaction to the fact that he was now dating Stiles, and in the end, he had been the one who was the most supportive. Of course, if Derek actually broke Stiles' heart, he had the feeling that Sheriff Stilinski might be his worst nightmare.

But so far things were wonderful, and Derek was feeling much more confident about having a relationship that wasn't going to backfire spectacularly. There were still days when Derek woke up sure that everything was going to fall apart on him, but those were few and far between. So it's not unexpected that a Saturday late in the month found him puttering around the kitchen baking on a while Stiles filled the room with his chatter and the wind and rain battered at the windows.

He was tackling ginger cupcakes, and the recipe was driving him crazy. The first batch, following the recipe exactly had barely tasted like ginger, and the second batch had been completely overpowering. Neither the third nor the fourth batches had turned out well either, and if this one didn't turn out, he was calling it quits for the day. Thankfully, he had mastered the green tea frosting that went with cupcakes. That at least was one thing that was going well.

With the cupcakes in the oven, there was nothing left to do except for clean up and wait for the baking to finish. His mother wandered into the room with a stack of mail.

"Something for you, Derek. Looks official." She handed him a thick envelope.

He frowned at it. A quick glance told him it was from Southern New Hampshire University, and he felt his stomach clench. It wasn't the first letter back he'd gotten from a college he'd applied to, but he'd yet to be accepted to any that really appealed to him. Texas wasn't exactly his cup of tea, and Derek rather thought he'd like to go some place other than California. He'd applied to all of the colleges that fit his criteria, but when he'd done his searching none of the schools really jumped out at him. There was one in Oregon that might be nice though and one in Alaska that might suit him. He really wasn't sure. He'd sort of been hoping that he'd only get one acceptance letter, and that would decide things for him.

"What's it say?" Stiles asked.

Derek scanned the pages. "I got in. And they're offering me a scholarship."

Stiles beamed at him. "That's great. Which school?"

"Southern New Hampshire."

"Huh."

The timer goes off, and Derek handed the letter to Stiles while he pulled the cupcakes out of the oven.

"How do they look?"

Derek smiled. "They look fine. I'm more worried about how they taste."

"Looks like a nice campus. And it's not in California or Texas." Stiles was fishing.

Derek just shrugged. "We'll see."

Stiles just shook his head. "You'll have to make a decision sometime."

"But not just yet. Here." He pressed a warm cupcake into Stiles' hands. "Tell me what you think."

Stiles bit into the cupcake and wrinkled his nose just slightly. "This is good. Not at all overpowering like before."

"Good. You can help me frost them then."

He handed Stiles a pastry bag. His boyfriend just grinned and squirted a dab on frosting onto Derek's nose. Derek wiped it off only to smeer the remains on Stiles' cheek. His boyfriend laughed and retaliated. Very few of the cupcakes actually get frosted and the kitchen is covered in frosting, but Derek doesn't mind a bit.


	26. Creme Brulee Cupcake

Derek was beginning to understand why his friends went so crazy around Valentine's Day. He and Stiles might have only been dating for a little while, but Derek still wanted to make sure that he did something special for Valentine's Day. The question was what. He knew that Stiles didn't need a big fuss (which was good since Derek didn't think he could manage a major romantic gesture at school without combusting from embarrassment), but he wanted to do something special. And thankfully, his boyfriend had a sweet tooth.

The big drawback was that he didn't have much time to perfect his Valentine's Cupcake surprise, and it wasn't something he could work on when Stiles was around. The crème brulee cupcakes were maybe some of the more technically challenging that Derek had tried to make, but he was pretty sure that it would pay off. And admittedly, Derek was insisting that he make his crème brulee sauce from a homemade pastry cream rather than using store bought or a mix. Plus he had to master the technique of toasting the top. His dad had a kitchen blowtorch, but Derek had never really been allowed to use it before.

He spent just about every waking moment he wasn't at school or with Stiles working on the recipe. His dad had been very helpful when it came to learning how to properly toast the tops of the cupcakes after Derek had completely burned the first batch. Then again, ever since he'd mentioned that he was thinking about getting a degree in culinary arts, his dad had been more than happy to impart as many trade secrets as he could think of to Derek. Derek didn't think that he was ever going to end up in a high class restaurant like his dad had, but he loved cooking with his dad, and it was something special that just the two of them shared.

There was also the matter of figuring out what to do besides just giving Stiles the cupcakes. Derek was still wracking his brain to come up with an idea for a good Valentine's Day date. There weren't any movies playing that the two of them were interested in seeing, and it really too cold out to do something like a picnic. Doing something at home wasn't really an option because Cora had made it clear that she was celebrating single's awareness day with a James Bond marathon and couples were not welcome. At least he had the cupcakes. That was something at least even if he didn't have the rest of a plan for Valentine's Day.

What Derek hadn't counted on was Stiles. He still wasn't entirely used to a relationship where he didn't have to do most of the date planning. But Stiles had come up with a Valentine's Day plan of his own. Which was how Derek ended up on Stiles' front porch, clutching a box of cupcakes and not knowing what to expect. The Sheriff opened the door and grinned at Derek.

"Come on in. Stiles is just getting things set up."

Not feeling any less nervous, Derek headed for the living room. He wasn't sure what he expected to find there, but it wasn't the sight he found. The room was now dominated by a gigantic pillow fort. Stiles crawled out before Derek could say anything.

"You're early! What did you bring?"

"Cupcakes," Derek said.

"Great." Stiles beamed at him. "Take off your shoes and bring them inside."

Careful not to jostle the cupcakes too much, Derek made his way inside the blanket fort. Inside he found a vast array of snacks, more pillows and blankets, and several take out menus.

Stiles smiled a little more shyly at him. "I figured a take on dinner and movie wouldn't be too over the top for our first Valentine's Day. So what will it be? Chinese, pizza, Italian?"

Derek reached for the menus, mentally trying to think what would go best with crème brulee cupcakes. Probably Italian, but he really wasn't in the mood for that at the moment.

"How about that teriyaki place down on Main Street?" Derek asked.

"Sounds good to me."

Their order was quickly placed, and Stiles eyed the box of cupcakes.

"Are those dessert or appetizer? Because I did get us a dessert as well."

Derek just laughed. "They can be our appetizer."

He carefully opened the box to reveal the four prettiest of the cupcakes he'd made. Stiles made an appreciative noise.

"What kind are they?"

"Crème brulee. I even torched the tops to get that burnt sugar effect."

"You have one of those mini-blow torch things? That's so cool. I can use it sometime?"

That made Derek laugh. "I doubt Dad would let it out of his sight."

Curled up with their cupcakes, Stiles started the movie, and by the time that John delivered their take out to the front of the pillow fort, the couple were engrossed in Westley and Inigo's sword fight. The weight of Stiles' head on his shoulder was comforting, and Derek spared a moment to wonder at how he never would have believed, he never would have let himself have this a year ago. This relationship with Stiles still scared him more than a little, he wasn't sure he could survive losing Stiles too now, but he was pretty sure that they were worth the risk.

Stiles nuzzled closer, and Derek refocused on the moment. It might be their first Valentine's Day, but he was hoping it wouldn't be their last.


	27. Anise Cupcake with White Chocolate Buttercream

Derek was on a mission. It was complicated a bit by the fact that he wasn't entirely sure what the protocol was to ask your boyfriend to prom rather than your girlfriend, but he figured as long as he included cupcakes, Stiles wouldn't mind too much. Thanks to Pinterest and interfering sisters, Derek at least had a plan on how to ask Stiles.

He just needed eight perfect cupcakes to do it. Which shouldn't be too hard. Derek was on the last recipe from the cookbook, and it was a fairly simple one. The trick was to make sure that the anise flavor didn't overpower everything else. For some reason like a lot of the recipes in his book, just following the recipe doesn't produce a tasty cupcake. Thankfully, Stiles was fond of licorice, so at least Derek knew he would like the cupcakes, once he got them perfected.

In all honesty, prom was a little more important to Derek than he was letting on. He had missed his opportunity with Paige, and that made getting a second chance with Stiles more important. There was also the fact that Derek was beginning to suspect that he felt far more for Stiles than he ever had for Paige. But he wasn't ready to admit that to anyone, not even himself. So instead he focused on right now and making the perfect cupcakes for a prom proposal, even if it does make him feel a bit silly some times. And the fact that it was the last cupcake on his self-appointed list to try and make seemed to make everything just that more important.

At least he had the comfort of knowing he wasn't the only one in the prom boat. Boyd too had to come up with his own way to ask Erica, and it sounded like Cora was going to ask Isaac. Scott and Allison were going together as were Lydia and Jackson, so it seemed like most of the younger parts of the pack would be there. It was either going to be a very fun night or a complete disaster. Derek figured it could go either way with this particular group. Either way, it would be an interesting night.

But first he had to ask Stiles. After nearly half a dozen test batches and several hours painstakingly piping words onto the best cupcakes in red icing (Derek had made more than one mistake and had to start over on a new cupcake), he had eight cupcakes spelling out his question ready to go. Derek carefully transferred the cupcakes into a small bakery box and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

The drive over to the Stilinski house was completely nerve wracking. Derek was terrified he was going to hit something and ruin the cupcakes, despite the fact that they were safely belted in in the back seat of the car. He made it to Stiles' front door without incident though, and his knock was almost immediately answered by the sheriff.

"Derek. Stiles is up in his room." The man eyed the cupcake box. "Any in there for me?"

Derek shrugged. "You'll have to ask Stiles."

John laughed. "You'd better go take them up to him then."

Stiles bounced to his feet when he saw Derek standing in the doorway. Derek took another deep breath and held out the bakery box.

"This is for you."

Stiles grinned and made grabby hands for the box. "What kind did you make this time?"

He flipped the top open and blinked at the cupcakes inside. Derek held his breath. Then Stiles grinned at him.

"Of course, Sillywolf. Did you think I would say no?"

Derek shrugged as relief flooded him. "I didn't want to assume."

Stiles just shook his head and leaned into kiss Derek. "Derek. I'd love to go to prom with you."

What Derek hadn't realized was just how crazy their parents were going to go over the whole thing. Still, despite the seemingly thousands of pictures that both his mom and the sheriff took of the two of them and the rather uncomfortable suit, Derek was over the moon the entire night. He and Stiles went out to dinner at the new fondue shop that had opened downtown before joining up with the rest of the pack at the ballroom. The evening was full of a dancing, laughter, and fun. And by the time that Derek dropped Stiles back home with a kiss on the front porch, he was practically floating.

The evening had been everything he'd dreamed of and more. And for once, Derek realized, he wasn't dreading what came next. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but maybe it wouldn't be the disaster he would have expected last year. He'd have to wait and see, though now he wasn't terrified that it would bring danger to everyone he loved. In fact, it might be pretty wonderful.


	28. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has left kudos, commented, or bookmarked this story. I appreciate all of the support.

_Ten Years Later_

Red and Wolf's was always busy on Saturdays. Then again, as Beacon Hills' only cupcake shop, it was almost always pretty busy. It had the added cachet of being attached to Beacon Hills' premiere comic and game shop which also funneled its fair share of traffic into the bakery. Of course, Derek didn't have to deal with the customers much. That task fell to Liam and Mason, under the supervision of Kira or Stiles if he was home. The boys weren't bad workers, but like most high school students, they needed someone to keep them from executing their more crazy ideas.

They were also the newest additions to the Hale pack in a situation quite similar to Scott and Stiles with Liam being a newly minted werewolf and Mason his best friend. Kira was Stiles' age and a kitsune. She was also the daughter of a friend of Derek's mom and a newly graduated web designer. She'd both built the shop's website and managed Derek's staff. These days he needed at least two people out front while he baked in the back. There were days when he couldn't believe how far the shop had come.

It had started as something to keep Derek distracted while Stiles was away at grad school. The two of them had managed college just fine with Stiles attending Thomas College. They'd been about two and a half hours away from one another which had been quite manageable. Even Stiles last year after Derek had graduated hadn't been two bad, though Derek probably spent more time skyping Stiles than talking to other people in person. But when Stiles had decided to go to grad school, Derek had been pretty much stuck in Beacon Hills due to pack politics with the territory the university had been in, and he'd started to go a little crazy being away from Stiles.

The business had actually been Jordan's idea. He's suggested it when Derek had offered to provide cupcakes for his and Laura's wedding right after Derek had graduated college, but Derek hadn't really considered it until he was driving his mom crazy with his moping around the house. Red and Wolf had started out as an online business with Derek making the cupcakes in the Hale kitchen and delivering them himself. By the time that Stiles had graduated with his masters, Derek had needed to recruit Isaac to help out with deliveries as well as moving into a space of his own. There had been a couple of fights with his dad about who's turn it was to use the kitchen.

So Derek had moved into a loft which he'd renovated to have an industrial kitchen, and six months later, Stiles had come home and moved in with him. Living together had been both wonderful and crazy making at the times with Derek was running his business out of the loft while Stiles was trying to get his own business off of the ground.

While Stiles might have gotten a degree in Forensic Psychology, his connection to the supernatural had led him to become something of an expert on supernatural creatures in general. He'd decided to set up a little consulting firm helping out when small supernatural communities were dealing with problems their local lore didn't cover as well as working to collect and preserve accurate lore. Stiles had gotten a lot of support for the idea both from Talia Hale as well as from a number of other alphas and various supernatural creatures.

So Derek baked cupcakes and Stiles fielded crises, often at the same time. It had been a little surreal the afternoon Stiles was giving instructions on how to deal with a pack of pixies while Derek was frantically trying to bake four hundred blueberry cupcakes. But despite the screaming arguments over whose turn it was to do laundry or not calling and letting someone know when you ran into a group of yeti and were going to be late, they had managed to stay together. It hadn't always been easy, but it had definitely been worth it.

The pair of them had also started dabbling in RPG games. Derek had gotten into a group during college, but it had been Stiles who came up with the idea of creating a game based on real supernatural lore. The project had mostly been something that the couple just played around with up until two years ago when Derek had gotten to go on Cupcake Wars. That had been an adventure and a half. He'd ended up bringing Stiles with him as an assistant since his only other option at the time had been bringing his cousin, Malia, and she could burn water. He and Stiles didn't often bake together, but at least Stiles had been around Derek baking and knew when to help and when to back off.

They had lucked out as well in the event they were making the cupcakes for. Dragon and Crown Games, a tiny company from Britain which had had viral success with their Arthurian based RPG game, was bringing its game to the States, and the winner's cupcakes would be featured at the launch party at Pax Prime in Seattle. Derek had the good fortune to have at least heard of the company before and know something about the game, and that fact had been appreciated by the guest judges, the co-founders of Dragon and Crown. None of the other contestants seemed to know anything about gaming in general or this particular company, so that had been an edge.

The whole competition had been crazy, but Derek had emerged victorious even after a minor mishap in the second round. But the major result of winning, besides the startup money that was the down payment on Derek's store front, had been a new friendship with Merlin and Arthur, the company's owners. Before long the four of them had put together Teen Wolf, a supernatural RPG game, and the pair of Brits were opening their very first brick and mortar store right next door to Derek's cupcake shop. Both shops had gone over quite well. Derek had given most of the cupcakes pop culture or fairytale names, and it seemed like all of that had been well received. These days both shops did brisk business, and Stiles' little consulting firm was well respected in the supernatural community.

The rest of the pack was doing quite well too, even if the younger members were a little spread out. Cora and Isaac were currently globetrotting while Cora took pictures and Isaac wrote pieces for a variety of magazines and websites. Laura had come home from school, married Jordan, and opened her own practice as well as had started taking over some of Talia's alpha duties.

The star-crossed pair of Scott and Allison were still going strong as well. In fact, Derek had provided the cupcakes for their wedding last year. Scott was now Deaton's partner at the veterinary clinic while Miss Allison was the most beloved and most obeyed third grade teacher at Beacon Hills Elementary, known for being both strict and fun in the classroom. Lydia was teaching math down at Stanford while Jackson was actually running a kids sports program nearby. Danny had met a werewolf from another pack and fallen for him, and Ethan had ended up join the Hale pack. The two of them ran a computer business together now. Erica and Boyd had been happily married since Erica graduated from university. She was currently building her reputation at a firm in Oregon while Boyd worked for the Forest Service nearby.

The pack elders were much the same as they always had been except for the fact that his mom was beginning to hand over her duties as alpha to Laura, and his dad was talking about opening a new restaurant now that all of their children were grown. Sheriff Stilinski and Melissa McCall had actually gotten married during Stiles' and Scott's senior year of undergraduate much to the glee of the two young men. So all in all, things were pretty good for the extended Hale pack. There had been a couple of major issues over the years as well as so minor shenanigans, but nothing that they couldn't handle together.

"Something in here smells amazing," the sound of his fiancé's voice pulled Derek out of his thoughts. "Are you experimenting again?"

Derek shook his head. "No, just the blueberry cupcakes for Laura. I have the feeling that she and Jordan are getting ready to announce a baby."

Stiles grinned. "The pack is going to go crazy if that's the case. First new baby in the pack in a couple of years."

The timer went off, and Derek pulled the cupcakes out of the oven. Stiles perched on one of the countertops.

"So, I just wrapped up the Perez case. Three days early."

Derek smiled as he set the cupcakes in a rack to cool. "Are you hinting at something?"

"It's a holiday weekend. The shop's going to be closed. Nothing's going on with the pack. We could nip up to that bed and breakfast you like on the Oregon Coast for a couple days. You're done with the baking for the day, and I'm sure Kira and the boys can handle things for the rest of the afternoon. We could leave tonight."

Derek stepped between Stiles' legs and leaned in to kiss him. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe we could get some of the wedding planning done?"

"I think we could manage that." Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck and nuzzled their noses together. "Love you, Der."

"I love you too. I just need to frost Laura's cupcakes then we can head home."

As Derek reached for a pastry bag to fill with icing, he caught sight of the cookbook perched on a self. When he'd first gotten it all those years ago, he hadn't been able to imagine a future for himself, let alone one this happy. Now he couldn't imagine anything else. He had his pack, cupcakes, and Stiles. He couldn't ask for anything more.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Teen Wolf drabbles and ficlets, check out my tumblr: http://asourwolfandaspark.tumblr.com/


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